The US officials have stepped up working on a possible evacuation of their embassy in Kabul in case the security situation may deteriorate in Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, July 02.
The US fears that the situation may deteriorate at an extent that it could endanger lives of military corps, diplomats, and other US citizens in Afghanistan.
According to the report, with evacuation of the US embassy in Kabul, along with the embassy employees, thousands of other Americans will be also evacuated from Afghanistan.
The US officials, however, have stressed that there is no urgent need to evacuate the embassy and that the plan has not been finalized yet, but the urgency remains. US officials say the military is working with the State Department to implement the plan.
“It’s not the plan, it’s a contingency. It’s still squarely in the box of just-in-case,” a US official was quoted as saying.
The officials said although details of the plan are classified and confidential, the US government has been deploying helicopters and their crews at Kabul airport to use the equipment as part of their evacuation plan.
The preparations are part of the plan to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan, which, according to the Pentagon, is scheduled to be completed by the end of August.
The US has announced the possible evacuation of its embassy in Kabul, after President Ghani’s visit to Washington, when senior US officials assured them of a continued civilian presence in Afghanistan.
During a meeting with President Ghani, Biden stressed that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan does not mean the end of cooperation and relations between the two countries, but that the US will continue to provide assistance to Afghanistan in various fields.
War in Afghanistan has intensified since May 01, when the Taliban started unprecedented attacks on district centers of different provinces across the country. The group has captured more than 70 districts since then.
Afghan forces and the local mobilized militias have managed to regain control over some the newly fallen districts but still the militants keep advancing on the battlefields.
The Wall Street Journal also published a report last week on withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, quoting the US intelligence agency as saying the Afghan government may fall six months after the withdrawal of US troops.
The last group of US troops left the Bagram military base – the largest US military base – in Afghanistan’s Parwan province yesterday on Friday, July 02. The US military personnel, helicopters, crews and maintenance are, however, placed in Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, after the Bagram air base is closed, officials said.
