The State Department confirmed Tuesday that all U.S. Embassy personnel have been evacuated from Kabul — leaving a small core group based at the airport — and the priority has shifted to evacuating U.S. citizens and Afghans who helped the U.S.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a briefing Tuesday that officials don’t take the Taliban at their word and will monitor the situation, but the U.S. is not providing safe passage for those leaving the country.
A U.S. official confirmed that an email went out to Americans who have been notified that says: “the United States government cannot guarantee your security as you make this trip.”
While most embassy personnel have left, the State Department is sending some diplomats into the country, including consular affairs personnel, to help with evacuation efforts. Among those is Ambassador John Bass, who was the most recent Senate-confirmed U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, serving from 2017 to 2020. He is there to coordinate the evacuation effort, while Ambassador Ross Wilson, technically the charge d’affaires at the embassy, remains in charge of the U.S. mission.
To that end, the embassy has notified the first group of U.S. citizens to travel to the airport for evacuation flights.
While the Taliban have provided assurances that they will allow safe passage of civilians to the airport, it has been reported that people have been beaten or blocked by Taliban fighters.
Source- ABC
