The US embassy in Kabul said on Sunday that the security situation at the airport in the Afghan capital was changing rapidly, and there were reports of gunfire as US troops helped evacuate US personnel.
“There are reports of fire at the airport; That is why we are instructing US citizens to take shelter in place,” the embassy said in a security alert.
A source familiar with the situation could not confirm reports of firing there. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier on Sunday that embassy staff were leaving the diplomatic compound and headed for the airport as Taliban insurgents entered Kabul. The diplomats were being brought in by helicopter. The airport, where American troops were providing security amid exodus of Americans and their local allies and other foreigners.
Blinken insisted that the situation in the Afghan capital was “apparently not Saigon.” Taliban fighters had arrived in Kabul “from all sides”, a senior interior ministry official told Reuters and there were some reports of sporadic gunfire around the city. Sources told Reuters that most American workers are expected to be evacuated from Kabul in the coming days or so.
“We are working to ensure that our personnel are safe and secure. We are moving our embassy men and women to a location at the airport,” Blinken told ABC News. Asked whether the evacuation was what prompted the US departure from Vietnam in 1975, he said: “Let’s take a step back. This is clearly not Saigon.”
A NATO official said the group was maintaining its diplomatic presence in Kabul and helping to keep the airport running. France, Germany and the Netherlands, all NATO members, said on Sunday they were moving their diplomats from their embassies.
‘Not Saigon’ US intelligence assessment earlier in the week said Kabul could be besieged in 30 days and handed over to the Taliban within 90 days, but the rebels captured Afghanistan in less than a week. Captured most of the major cities and entered the capital. Sunday.
Some 4,200 people remained at the US embassy until Thursday, when the Taliban’s rapid gains forced the Biden administration to fly in thousands of troops to help evade many of the remaining diplomats.
The State Department insisted at the time that the embassy was not closing, but as of Sunday, sources said almost all US personnel would be withdrawn from the country within a day or two. US officials said they were weighing whether more troops were needed to help. evacuation, but said that at some point the capacity at the airport will become an issue.
Roughly 5,000 troops have already been commissioned, but another 3,000 are on standby in Kuwait. Blinken told CNN that Washington invested billions of dollars in Afghan government forces over four US administrations, giving them an advantage over the Taliban, but that they were unable to defend the country in the face of terrorists.
“It happened much faster than we expected,” Blinken said. The original United States mission in Afghanistan was launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks to oust al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, Blinken said, adding that Washington prevented further attacks by militants sheltered by the Taliban. Was.
But it has faced mounting domestic criticism after sticking to his plan to back US President Joe Biden, which his Republican predecessor Donald Trump had agreed to.
Republican lawmaker Michael McCaul said on Sunday that the Taliban takeover would again pose a threat to the United States. A breeding ground for terrorism,” he told CNN. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat like Biden, said Washington’s top focus should be on safely getting American personnel and Afghans who supported the United States.
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