The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, is instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place amid reports that the city’s airport is under fire.
“The security situation in Kabul is changing quickly including at the airport. There are reports of the airport taking fire; therefore we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place,” the embassy said in a statement on Sunday.
The latest development comes as the Taliban have entered Kabul and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reportedly fled the country.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, told NBC News that the group's soldiers will be on “standby” until the government peacefully surrenders.
In April, President Biden Joe BidenTom Cotton calls on Biden to 'destroy every Taliban fighter' near Kabul Trump slams Biden for not 'following the plan' he left on Afghanistan Pelosi 'deeply concerned' for women amid Taliban gains in Afghanistan MORE announced that all U.S. troops would withdraw from Afghanistan after a 20-year military presence there.
Biden has stressed that the Afghan government can oversee the country without U.S. involvement but is sending an additional 5,000 U.S. troops to the country to aid in the evacuation of U.S. Embassy staff.
ScoopTheOranges on August 15th, 2021 at 18:41 UTC »
It’s crazy how quickly this is happening, I’ve read a weeks worth of news about this in a day.
justkeepstretching on August 15th, 2021 at 17:09 UTC »
Why are we evacuating these people now and not before pulling troops? Am I crazy? This seems so idiotic. Did they just not leave when they were supposed to?
wittyusernamefailed on August 15th, 2021 at 16:48 UTC »
Well THIS was pretty much falling into the worst case scenario. I wonder what we are going to do now if the Taliban does actually take personnel hostage? Is Biden going to be serious about dropping the hammer down like we've threatened in that case?