The mood was grim in Kabul, where the Taliban was reportedly just seven miles away as of Saturday. Helicopters landed at the U.S. Embassy early Sunday and armored diplomatic vehicles were seen leaving the area around the compound, the Associated Press reported. Diplomats scrambled to destroy sensitive documents, sending smoke from the embassy’s roof, the AP said, citing anonymous U.S. military officials.
While the embassy was still functioning as of early Sunday, two unnamed U.S. officials told Reuters that some diplomats had begun withdrawing and “a majority of the staff are ready to leave.”
The rapid disintegration of security in the country has prompted the revision of an already stark intelligence assessment predicting Kabul could be overrun within six to 12 months of the U.S. military departing, The Washington Post reported.
The State Department could not immediately be reached for comment. Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday that the departure of Americans from the embassy was “not an evacuation,” but rather “a reduction in the size of our civilian footprint.” He declined to disclose how many U.S. government personnel were among the roughly 4,000 people working at the diplomatic mission.
The moves underscore the lightning gains made by the Taliban, which already hold much of the country’s western and southern regions. Just days before, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had flown to Mazar-e Sharif to rally pro-government forces.
The fall of Jalalabad, close to Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, reportedly came with minimal resistance. The militants and local elders had negotiated the fall of the city’s government, the AP reported, citing a regional lawmaker. Leaders in Jalalabad were given safe passage from the city, according to Reuters.
Several other countries that had retained a diplomatic presence in Kabul even as Taliban gains accelerated also began withdrawing their staff. The British ambassador will be airlifted from Afghanistan by Monday evening, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported. Iranian officials said its embassy in Kabul would be evacuated by Monday, according to Reuters.
The Danish and Norwegian embassies also recently announced plans to suspend operations and move staff out of the country.
President Biden on Saturday had announced that more troops would be sent to the capital to assist the departure of Americans there, expanding the number of troops sent to Kabul to 5,000. That includes an additional 1,000 troops that had been held at the ready in Kuwait, and at least 650 who had stayed behind in Afghanistan with the mission of protecting the U.S. Embassy and airport after the United States began withdrawing its military.
The Pentagon has declined to call the deployment a combat mission. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said troops have been deployed with machine guns, mortars and other heavy weapons with authorization to defend themselves if attacked.
Biden has warned that any moves by the Taliban that threaten American personnel or interests in the country would face a “swift and strong” response by the U.S. military.
International leaders have warned the militants that if they take Kabul by force, they would cut themselves off from any legitimacy or aid.
The fall of Mazar-e Sharif on Saturday came as the Taliban appeared to have gained control of the province of Logar, an important gateway to the capital. Militants Saturday also captured the capital of Paktika, an eastern province bordering Pakistan, where local leaders fled for Kabul after surrendering.
As the last major city in Afghanistan still in government control, Kabul has been overrun by Afghans fleeing oppressive militant rule as the country faces a humanitarian disaster. Families who had flocked to Kabul were selling their possessions in an attempt to raise money amid reports that ATMs had stopped dispensing cash.
At the airport, people who had provided help to Western governments were seen on television news footage swarming visa processing centers, seeking a way out of the country. “We served for the American forces...” one person at the airport told ABC News. “They have to take care [of] us. It is our turn to be helped.”
Pietsch reported from Seoul.
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August 15, 2021 at 01:25PM
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Taliban gains in Afghanistan accelerate as Jalalabad falls, leaving Kabul as last big city in government hands - The Washington Post
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