The inexorable advance of the Taliban in Afghanistan makes Western countries fear the worst.
American intelligence fears that the fighters will manage to isolate Kabul in 30 days and bring it down in the space of 90. So to secure the evacuation of some of the staff from their embassy, the United States will redeploy 3,000 soldiers at Kabul airport.
650 soldiers are still there and 3,500 will be deployed in nearby Kuwait to be able to intervene in the event of a deterioration of the situation.
The US State Department is also announcing that it will speed up the evacuation of interpreters and other Afghan auxiliaries from the US military, who could be threatened with reprisals if the Taliban seizes power.
Daily flights will be put in place to ensure the last evacuations, said Ned Price, spokesman for US diplomacy.
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Through the voice of its Minister of Defense, Ben Wallace, London also announces the temporary deployment of 600 soldiers to "help British nationals leave the country and support the relocation of former Afghan personnel who risked their lives by weaning alongside us. ".
Acceleration of offensives "very worrying"
“The embassy remains open.
It is not a question of a total evacuation ”, he assured.
But "the acceleration of the Taliban's military offensives and the resulting increase in violence and instability across Afghanistan is very worrying," he said.
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The US government began recalling some of its staff from Kabul in April, when President Joe Biden announced that the withdrawal of all international forces from Afghanistan would be completed by the end of the summer.
"As a result, we are further reducing our civilian presence in Kabul, in light of the evolution of the security situation," he explained, referring to an evacuation of some of the American diplomats "in the coming weeks" .
"In order to facilitate this reduction, the Ministry of Defense will temporarily deploy additional troops at the international airport."
A temporary redeployment therefore, the United States continues its withdrawal from the country as planned.
The third city of the fallen country
The announcement comes as the Taliban seized on Thursday Herat, the third largest city in Afghanistan, in the west of the country, a major step in their offensive a few hours after the capture of Ghazni, 150 km to the south. west of Kabul, which brought them dangerously close to the capital.
The insurgents "took everything," said a senior security official there, adding that the Afghan forces had retreated "to prevent further damage in the city" and were withdrawing to a military base in Guzara, a neighboring district.
The government has now lost control of most of the territories in the north, south, and west of Afghanistan, and is struggling to maintain its presence in Kandahar (south), the country's second largest city, besieged and ravaged by fighting.