Nand against the background of the militant offensive, the United States will reduce the number of embassy staff in Afghanistan. Employees of the diplomatic mission were instructed to destroy objects that depict the US flag or logos of American departments, and secret documents
Employees of the US Embassy in Kabul have been ordered to destroy secret papers due to fears that the Afghan capital will soon be captured by militants. This was reported by CNN and Bloomberg with reference to the order that the management sent to the employees of the diplomatic mission.
The embassy staff was asked to destroy confidential materials, as well as items that could be misused for propaganda purposes. This includes items that depict the US flag, the logo of the embassy or other American departments.
According to a CNN diplomatic source, the intelligence service admitted that the Taliban (a terrorist movement banned in Russia) could isolate Kabul within a week or the next three days. However, these data do not indicate that the militants will enter the capital, the interlocutor of the TV channel added.
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A representative of the State Department, in an interview with The Hill, called the destruction of documents at the embassy a standard operating procedure when reducing the number of employees.
The day before, the Taliban captured the provincial capital 50 km from Kabul-the city of Puli Alam. The Afghan authorities also confirmed that the terrorists occupied the second largest city of Afghanistan, Kandahar.
Against the background of the strengthening of the positions of the Taliban, the countries began to close embassies and consulates in Afghanistan. Norway and Denmark will also close their embassies, and Germany will reduce the number of staff of the diplomatic mission to an “absolute minimum”.
In turn, the United States will also reduce the number of embassy employees. The safety of workers during their evacuation will be ensured by additional US Army forces that will be transferred to Kabul. According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, 3 thousand American military personnel are expected to arrive in Afghanistan by the end of the weekend.
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