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US begins evacuating diplomats in Kabul, Reuters reports

On Thursday, the US administration announced it was reducing the staff of the US embassy in Kabul

© AP Photo/Rahmat Gul

MOSCOW, August 15. /TASS/. The US began to evacuate diplomats from its embassy in Kabul on Sunday, Reuters reports.

"A majority of the staff are ready to leave… the embassy continues to function," a US official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, the US administration announced it was reducing the staff of the US embassy in Kabul. US troops will ensure a safe drawdown. On Saturday, US President Joe Biden said that overall 5,000 military would be deployed to ensure "an orderly and safe drawdown of US personnel and other allied personnel and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance".

Afghanistan’s security situation deteriorated significantly in April after President Joe Biden announced that the American armed forces’ operation there which became the US’ longest foreign military campaign was coming to an end. Against this background, the radical Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) has been stepping up the pace of its offensive in several directions. According to the data from several open sources as well as the claims of the Taliban itself, the radicals are controlling up to 90% of the country’s territory, including the areas along the border with five countries: Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

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