The general strategy of the Taliban indicates that they seek to capture cities south, west and north of the Afghan capital to isolate it, according to State Department spokesman John Kirby.
“It seems the Taliban are trying to isolate the city,” He said during a press conference, noting that the insurgents have “seized main roads and intersections to control what we call ‘lines of communication.’
“It is no different from the way they have operated in other parts of the country, isolating provincial capitals and sometimes being able to force surrender without necessarily a lot of bloodshed,” Kirby said.
Meanwhile, three people familiar with the matter told Politico that the Pentagon advances plans for the imminent withdrawal of personnel from the US Embassy in Kabul. Two of them specified that the US Central Command considers a total evacuation of the US mission “inevitable”.
The director of diplomatic facilities on Friday ordered staff to begin destroying classified documents, electronic devices and large items. According to an internal memo to which Politico had access, the latter will be crushed with a large roller.
In addition, Embassy employees were instructed to destroy all “American flag documents (…) that could be misused in propaganda efforts.”
At the Kabul airport, which is expected to be a turning point in the coming days, the arrival of 3,000 American soldiers began, as well as 600 British, sent to help evacuate their diplomats and citizens. This Thursday, Germany and the US asked all their citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately.
Previously, Norway and Denmark decided to temporarily close their embassies in the capital of Afghanistan and evacuate personnel, given the accelerated worsening of security conditions in the country.
