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The embassy in Kabul will remain open, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price
Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
The US military actually wants to leave Afghanistan by the end of August, but the Pentagon is now sending 3,000 additional soldiers into the country. They are supposed to strengthen security at Kabul Airport. It is about supporting the reduction of the US embassy staff, said the spokesman for the US Department of Defense, John Kirby, on Thursday. This could also include securing convoys to and from the airport. The troops could also assist the State Department in evacuating former Afghan US military personnel.
The mission is to begin in the next 24 to 48 hours.
The temporary reinforcement is a precautionary measure given the recent advance of the militant Islamist Taliban in parts of Afghanistan, said Kirby.
The reinforcement was "appropriate," he said, given the rapidly deteriorating security situation.
The British Defense Minister Ben Wallace had previously announced that up to 600 soldiers would be used for an evacuation.
Like Germany, both states have asked their citizens to leave the country.
The staff in the US embassy is to be reduced significantly in the coming weeks. "We assume that we will reduce our diplomatic presence in Afghanistan in the coming weeks to a minimum," said the spokesman for the US State Department, Ned Price in Washington. The embassy in Kabul remains open at its current location. “We intend to continue our diplomatic work,” Price said. The embassy in Kabul remains open and the reduction of civilian personnel at the embassy in Kabul is a precautionary measure.
The US intends to completely end its military operation in Afghanistan by the end of August - after almost 20 years.
After that, only US soldiers are supposed to stay to protect the embassy in Afghanistan.
On Thursday, the third largest city in Afghanistan, Herat, fell to the Taliban.
The second largest city, Kandahar, is also fiercely contested.
The US military will help to make an orderly and safe reduction of our personnel possible.
USA set up daily airlift for Afghan aid workers
The US wants to get its former local staff in Afghanistan out of the country faster than before.
For interpreters and other Afghan employees who would have to fear reprisals if the Taliban came to power, there should be daily flights to take them out of the country, according to Price.
At the same time, he announced the stationing of US soldiers at Kabul airport to secure the departure of embassy personnel.
World will not recognize a violent takeover in Kabul
Price also announced that the international community would not recognize a new Afghan government if it had seized power by force.
This "message to the Taliban" will later be expressed in a joint statement with several international partners, including Germany, said Price.
A violent seizure of power by the Taliban would isolate Afghanistan internationally, whereupon aid payments would also be suspended, Price stressed.
In view of the ongoing negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government in the Emirate of Qatar, Price appealed to all parties to agree on a common political process for the future of the country.
Denmark sets deportations
in the interim
After Germany and a number of other EU countries, Denmark is also suspending forced returns to Afghanistan.
Rejected asylum seekers will initially not be deported to the country until October 8, the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Parliament's Committee on Foreigners and Integration in Copenhagen on Thursday.
The reason for this is that Afghanistan informed the EU on July 8th that it was temporarily not accepting deported people due to the security situation in the country.
According to Danish media reports, 45 rejected Afghans were recently forcibly returned from Denmark to Afghanistan.
kim / dpa / AFP