“Nearly all” personnel from the embassy have relocated to the airport (File)
Washington:
The USA lowered the flag on its embassy in Kabul and has relocated nearly all employees to the airport, the place US forces are taking on air site visitors management, officers mentioned Sunday.
“We’re finishing a sequence of steps to safe the Hamid Karzai Worldwide Airport to allow the protected departure of US and allied personnel from Afghanistan through civilian and army flights,” the Pentagon and State Division mentioned in a joint assertion.
“Nearly all” personnel from the embassy have relocated to the airport together with the appearing ambassador, Ross Wilson, who stays in contact with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a State Division spokesperson mentioned.
“The American flag has been lowered from the US embassy compound and is now securely situated with embassy employees,” the spokesperson mentioned.
The shuttering of the US embassy, which was one of many largest on the planet, comes almost 20 years after the USA returned following the defeat of the Taliban regime.
With gorgeous velocity, the Taliban retook the nation in little greater than every week after President Joe Biden started the ultimate withdrawal of troops, closing America’s longest conflict.
The USA has despatched 6,000 troops to the airport to fly out embassy personnel in addition to Afghans who assisted the USA as interpreters or in different help roles and now worry retribution.
Their mission shall be “targeted solely on facilitating these efforts and shall be taking on air site visitors management,” the joint assertion mentioned.
On Monday “and over the approaching days, we shall be transferring in another country hundreds of Americans who’ve been resident in Afghanistan, in addition to regionally employed employees of the US mission in Kabul and their households and different significantly susceptible Afghan nationals,” it continued.
Witnesses on social media have complained about disruptions to business flights as precedence was given to the US airlifts out of Kabul.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
