BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany on Sunday shuttered its embassy in Kabul and sped up preparations to evacuate its citizens and local helpers on Sunday as Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital. The security situation has deteriorated drastically. The German embassy Kabul is closed as of Aug. 15, the foreign office in Berlin said on its website. According to diplomats, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas decided to move the embassy staff to the military part of Kabul airport where they are supposed to resume working. At the same time, authorities in Berlin were speeding up efforts to evacuate German citizens as well as Afghans who used to work for the German military or other institutions. Taliban insurgents entered Kabul on Sunday and said they expected to take power within days. Maas convened the government s crisis team to launch emergency measures to secure the departure of German staff and other people at risk, according to a diplomatic source. A defence ministry spokesman did not confirm
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. embassy staff in Kabul were leaving the compound and moving to the airport, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, as Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital and officials said President Ashraf Ghani had left the country. There were reports of sporadic gunfire around the city, but there was no significant fighting and the Taliban said they were waiting for the Western-backed government to surrender peacefully. U.S. diplomats were being ferried by helicopter to the airport, where U.S. troops were providing security amid an exodus of Americans and their local allies and other foreigners. Sources told Reuters that most U.S. staff would be evacuated from Kabul in the coming day or two. We re working to make sure that our personnel are safe and secure. We re relocating the men and women of our embassy to a location at the airport, Blinken told ABC news. More U.S. forces had been sent in to get U.S. officials out of the country in a safe and orderl
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. embassy staff in Kabul were leaving the compound and moving to the airport, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, as Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital and officials said President Ashraf Ghani had left the country. There were reports of sporadic gunfire around the city, but there was no significant fighting and the Taliban said they were waiting for the Western-backed government to surrender peacefully. U.S. diplomats were being ferried by helicopter to the airport, where U.S. troops were providing security amid an exodus of Americans and their local allies and other foreigners. Sources told Reuters that most U.S. staff would be evacuated from Kabul in the coming day or two. We re working to make sure that our personnel are safe and secure. We re relocating the men and women of our embassy to a location at the airport, Blinken told ABC news. More U.S. forces had been sent in to get U.S. officials out of the country in a safe and orderl
The militant group has said it would not use force after it laid siege to the capital on Sunday. A political agreement between the Taliban and Afghan politicians is being discussed, but it comes at a price.