US Reportedly Begins Kabul Embassy Evacuation as Biden Sends 5,000 Troops for 'Safe Drawdown'

In recent weeks, the situation in Afghanistan has completely changed, as the Taliban* wages offensives across the country, seizing over half of the nation's provincial capitals, and coming close to Kabul, prompting the mass evacuation of diplomats from the city.

The United States has launched an evacuation of diplomats from its embassy in Afghanistan, Reuters reported citing anonymous officials.

"We have a small batch of people leaving now as we speak, a majority of the staff are ready to leave... the embassy continues to function", one diplomat said.

According to CBS News, all diplomatic personnel will be entirely evacuated by 31 August. Security engineers, special agents from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security Service as well as senior diplomats, including the ambassador, will stay behind to destroy all sensitive data storage devices.

The broadcaster also cited a US defence official as saying it is a matter of days before the Taliban take control of Kabul.

The reports emerge after the Taliban claimed to have captured Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar Province earlier in the day. 

A police officer stands guard, while former Afghan interpreters, who worked with U.S. troops in Afghanistan demonstrate in front of the U.S. embassy in Kabul June 25, 2021.

© REUTERS / STRINGER

This means that Kabul is now the last big city under the government's control, since Kandahar, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif previously fell to the militants.

The Taliban surge in Afghanistan started in May, after the US launched its troop withdrawal from the country. The advance of the militants prompted Washington to announce the redeployment of some 3,000 servicemen earlier in the week, and on Saturday President Joe Biden stated that the number has been increased to 5,000.

*The Taliban is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.