U.S. moves all embassy staff to Kabul airport as Taliban advance on Afghanistan’s capital

Staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul were rushed to the airport in the Afghan capital, where thousands of US troops have been sent, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday.

“We transferred the men and women from our embassy to the airport. For this reason, the president sent armed forces, ”he told the network. ABC, while the Taliban advance to the gates of Kabul.

As confirmed by official sources and witnesses from the American newspaper The Washington Post, The Taliban began taking a position on Sunday on the outskirts of the capital, although its leadership ordered fighters to refrain from entering by force.. Indeed, local sources confirmed to the channel NBC News that there is a Taliban presence in the districts of Kampany and Barchi, approximately in the extreme west of the city.

“All regions of the country have come under the control of the Islamic Emirate,” according to a statement issued by its regular spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, on his Twitter account, using the name used by the group.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Heiko Maas, also announced this Sunday the closing of the embassy from the country to Kabul and the immediate transfer of all personnel to the military sector of the airport in the Afghan capital before the arrival of the Taliban, who are currently negotiating with the Government for the peaceful surrender of the capital.

“In view of the drastic deterioration of the security situation, we urge German citizens to leave the country immediately,” his wallet said in a new travel alert confirmed by Maas on his Twitter account.

The minister added that a German government crisis cell will meet this afternoon to discuss “the start of immediate measures for the evacuation of German personnel and other people at risk in Afghanistan”.

As he could know dpa, the German Air Force will fly to Kabul on Monday with A400M type military transports. Intermediate landings are likely to take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. According to Maas, the German government is in talks with the Bundestag (German parliament) over a mandate for the evacuation mission.

The situation is panic in the capital, with Afghan authorities calling on all civil servants to quit their jobs and return home, as shops and banks close as traffic is crippled by heavy traffic jams.

However, the interim Afghan Minister of the Interior, Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal, assured in a televised message that there would be no attack in Kabul and the handover of power will be carried out calmly, according to the local channel Tolo, and also guarantees the population that they will be protected by the security forces. “The Afghans do not have to worry (…) There will be no attack on the city of Kabul,” Mirzakwal said in a video. “There will be a peaceful transfer of power to a transitional government,” he added.

Shortly afterwards, AFP reported that President Ashraf Ghani had left the country.

Development….

KEEP READING: