US Embassy in Kabul urges Americans to leave Afghanistan due to security situation

" 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 in a statement.

" The U.S. Embassy can provide a repatriation loan for U.S. citizens who cannot afford at this time to purchase a commercial ticket to the United States.  Please contact the Embassy’s American Citizen Services Unit at KabulACS@state.gov for further information," read the statement.

The U.S. Embassy said it reminds U.S. citizens that on April 27, 2021, the Department of State ordered the departure from U.S. Embassy Kabul of U.S. government employees whose functions can be performed elsewhere due to increasing violence and threat reports in Kabul. 

"The Travel Advisory for Afghanistan remains Level 4-Do Not Travel due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, armed conflict, and COVID-19. Domestic flights and ground transportation routes outside of Kabul are severely limited and subject to cancellation or closure," read the statement.

Additionally, US nationals were reminded to enroll in the Safe Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) so that the embassy could keep them updated in case of emergencies and inform of an evacuation flight in the future. Among the threats in Afghanistan, the embassy cited "crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, armed conflict, and COVID-19."

Afghanistan is seeing a spike in violence now as the Taliban have stepped up their offensive after international troops started a gradual withdrawal from the country, which was scheduled to be completed by September 11. The pullout was stipulated in the agreement the Taliban and the United States signed in Doha in February, 2020.