U.S. deploying 3,000 troops to assist evacuate Afghan embassy employees as Taliban advances

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U.S. deploying 3,000 troops to help evacuate Afghan embassy staff as Taliban advances

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A Taliban fighter stands guard on the entrance of the police headquarters in Ghazni on August 12, 2021, as Taliban transfer nearer to Afghan capital after taking Ghazni metropolis.

AFP | Getty Images

The U.S. is deploying 3,000 troops to Afghanistan so as to facilitate the drawdown of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to a “core diplomatic presence,” as Taliban militants quickly advance towards the Afghan capital.

The troops, which is able to encompass three infantry battalions complete from the Marines and Army, will deploy to Hamid Karzai International Airport inside 24 to 48 hours, in line with Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

“This is a very narrowly focused mission of safeguarding the orderly reduction of civilian personnel out of Afghanistan,” Kirby informed reporters throughout a press briefing Thursday.

The choice to deploy extra U.S. troops comes because the Taliban offensive makes fast advances.

The militants captured the strategic metropolis of Ghazni on Thursday, bringing their entrance line inside 95 miles of Kabul, a staggering improvement that comes practically two weeks earlier than U.S. and NATO coalition forces exit.

The Taliban additionally claims to have captured Afghanistan’s third-largest metropolis, Herat, within the northwest near Iran. Fierce combating has additionally been reported in Kandahar, the nation’s second-largest metropolis.

When requested if the troops going to Kabul had a fight mission, Kirby stated U.S. forces preserve the precise to self protection, however the mission is momentary with a deal with defending the motion of civilian personnel. Kirby informed reporters that the U.S. remains to be on monitor to finish its withdrawal by August 31.

However, a U.S. infantry brigade might be positioned in Kuwait within the occasion they’re wanted in Afghanistan to assist safe Hamid Karzai International Airport, in line with Kirby.

A joint unit from the Army and Air Force, consisting of 1,000 personnel, will deploy to Qatar to assist course of visas for Afghans who helped the U.S., Kirby stated.

As the Taliban nears Kabul, there may be rising concern concerning the security of U.S. civilian personnel within the capital. The State Department on Thursday stated it was reducing employees because of the deteriorating safety scenario within the nation.

“In light of the evolving security situation, we expect to draw down to a core diplomatic presence in Afghanistan,” State Department spokesman Ned Price stated Thursday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani earlier Thursday to coordinate planning, in accordance Price.

The U.S. Embassy, for the second time this week, urged Americans to go away Afghanistan instantly, warning that its means to help residents is “extremely limited even within Kabul” attributable to deteriorating safety circumstances and decreased staffing.

However, Price emphasised that the U.S. Embassy stays open and the State Department is ramping up its efforts to relocate Afghans who labored with the U.S. throughout the battle.

Since President Joe Biden’s April choice to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban have made gorgeous battlefield advances with now practically two-thirds of the nation underneath its management.

Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Afghan navy, the Taliban seized three provincial Afghan capitals in addition to an area military headquarters in Kunduz on Wednesday, in line with The Associated Press.

Wednesday’s good points got here on the heels of a dramatic weekend blitz the place the group took 5 provincial Afghan capitals.

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At the Pentagon, spokesman John Kirby informed reporters on Wednesday that the continued Taliban offensive throughout the war-torn nation runs towards a dedication made final yr by the group to interact in peace talks with the Afghan authorities.

“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 stated.

Afghan safety personnel patrol after they took again management of elements of town of Herat following combating between Taliban and Afghan safety forces, on the outskirts of Herat, 640 kilometers (397 miles) west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021.

Hamed Sarfarazi | AP

He added that whereas the Pentagon is worried to see such advances by the Taliban, the Afghan navy should now leverage the practically twenty years of coaching 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 stated.

“The recipe can’t be just a constant U.S. presence in Afghanistan that never ends,” he added.

An Afghan particular power member attends a navy operation towards the Taliban fighters in Kandak Anayat village of Kunduz metropolis, Afghanistan, July 23, 2021.

Ajmal Kakar | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

At the White House on Tuesday, Biden informed reporters that he doesn’t remorse his choice to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan, regardless of stunning good points 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 stated.

“Afghan leaders have to come together,” the president added. “They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”