The U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, urged all Americans to flee the country amid an increase in fighting, saying those Americans should not “rely on U.S. government flights.”
“The U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options. Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the Embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul,” the embassy said on its website over the weekend.
The alert included a link to the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program that would issue notifications about an evacuation flight.
“However, the Embassy reiterates that U.S. citizens should leave Afghanistan as soon as possible using available commercial transportation and not plan to rely on U.S. government flights,” the alert stated.
It comes as the Taliban terrorist group has taken over large swaths of the country, including the northern city of Kunduz on Sunday, according to reports. Kunduz is the third of four provincial capitals that the group has captured in recent days.
“We have the capabilities to take over cities but we were waiting for them and our policy is for peace and reconciliation but of course when they [the government] launched an offensive against us, they started the bombing campaign against us, we reacted and took two provincial centers, but still, our policy is for a negotiated settlement of the Afghan issue,” Suhail Shaheen, international media spokesman for the Taliban, told Al Jazeera.
