WASHINGTON – The U.S. Embassy in Kabul is reducing its staff to a “core diplomatic presence,” with the Defense Department deploying additional troops to assist with the drawdown as security conditions in Afghanistan deteriorate amid a rapid Taliban advance toward the nation’s capital.
The Taliban captured the strategic city of Ghazni on Thursday, bringing their front line within 95 miles of Kabul, a staggering development that comes nearly two weeks before U.S. and NATO coalition forces exit.
The militants also claim to have captured Afghanistan’s third-largest city, Herat, in the northwest close to Iran. Fierce fighting has also been reported in Kandahar, the nation’s second-largest city.
“In light of the evolving security situation, we expect to draw down to a core diplomatic presence in Afghanistan,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday.
“In the coming weeks, in order to facilitate this reduction, the Department of Defense will temporarily deploy additional personnel to Hamid Karzai International Airport,” Price said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani earlier Thursday to coordinate planning, according Price.
The U.S. embassy, for the second time this week, urged Americans to leave Afghanistan immediately, warning that its ability to assist American citizens is “extremely limited even within Kabul” due to deteriorating security conditions and reduced staffing.
However, Price emphasized that the U.S. Embassy remains open and the State Department is ramping up its efforts to relocate Afghans who worked with the U.S. during the war.
Since President Joe Biden’s April decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban have made stunning battlefield advances with now nearly two-thirds of the nation under its control.
Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Afghan military, the Taliban seized three provincial Afghan capitals as well as a local army headquarters in Kunduz on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.
Wednesday’s gains came on the heels of a dramatic weekend blitz where the group took five provincial Afghan capitals.
At the Pentagon, spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday that the continued Taliban offensive across the war-torn country runs against a commitment made last year by the group to engage in peace talks with the Afghan government.
“What we’re seeing on the ground is that the Taliban continues to advance and to assume control of district and provincial centers that clearly indicates that they believe it is possible to gain governance through force, through brutality, through violence, through oppression, which is at great odds with their previously stated goal of actually wanting to participate in a negotiated political solution,” Kirby said.
He added that while the Pentagon is concerned to see such advances by the Taliban, the Afghan military must now leverage the nearly two decades of training from U.S. and NATO coalition forces.
“They have the advantage in numbers, in operational structure, in air forces and in modern weaponry and it’s really about having the will and the leadership to use those advantages to their own benefit,” Kirby said.
“The recipe can’t be just a constant U.S. presence in Afghanistan that never ends,” he added.
At the White House on Tuesday, Biden told reporters that he does not regret his decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan, despite shocking gains by the Taliban.
“Look, we spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years, we trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces,” Biden said.
“Afghan leaders have to come together,” the president added. “They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”
