US embassy in Kabul on the brink of being shut down

The US Embassy in Kabul is on the brink of being shut down after the humiliating evacuation of American troops from the Bagram air base.

Bagram compound had been the epicenter of the US military presence in Afghanistan since the occupation of the country two decades ago.

US troops leave largest military base in Afghanistan after 20 years of failure

Bagram Military Base, which was once the epicenter of US military operations in Afghanistan, was on Friday formally handed over to the Afghan forces, according to reports

Politico reported on Friday that US embassy in Kabul faced an uncertain future amid reports that the Taliban militant group, who were ousted from power in 2001, was steadily regaining control over the whole of the country.

Some US intelligence estimates reportedly project that the government in Kabul could fall to the Taliban in as little as six months after the complete US withdrawal.

All of the roughly 10,000 US troops that were based in Afghanistan are scheduled to be pulled out of the war-torn country by late August to meet US President Joe Biden’s Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline.

However, Biden, who has promised to end his country’s “forever war” in Afghanistan, has also decided to leave some 650 US troops behind to provide security for diplomats at the US Embassy which has been expanded and fortified significantly to cater to possible scenarios including “a terrorist attack within Kabul or the surrounding environs and/or violent confrontations that threaten the security perimeter of the Embassy” amid the growing risk posed by the militants gaining clout after the pullout is completed.

The Biden administration, according to Politico, supposedly prepared a secret Emergency Action Plan which envisages even shutting down the embassy in certain dire cases.

One such case for shuttering the embassy could be if “the security situation in Afghanistan deteriorates such that security forces in Kabul are diminished or otherwise unavailable, weakening the host government’s ability to respond to … requests for security support.”

In this regard, Ron Neumann, who served as US ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007, pointed out that future decisions about the embassy depended on the outcome of war and peace with Taliban. 

“This decision is a dynamic — constantly changing,” he said. “As long as the Afghans are not losing the war ultimately, there’s a real reluctance to pull out [of] the embassy, because it will trigger a stampede.”

Biden insists that the US will maintain its presence economically or diplomatically in Afghanistan, and that the United States will continue to fund the Afghan military and help the country on a humanitarian level.

In the meantime, the US embassy in Kabul had already been placed on “ordered departure” in April, meaning non-essential staff were forced to leave.

The Biden administration is also working on plans to pullout thousands of Afghan employees, diplomats and contractors working for the US and who now face increasing threats from the Taliban.

James Cunningham, who served as US ambassador to Afghanistan from 2012 to 2014, cautioned against assuming that the Taliban will immediately try to seize Kabul and overthrow the Afghan government once US troops are out.

 “They may well decide it’s not in their interest to do that,” Cunningham said, noting that’s especially the case if the militant group wants to “have a relationship with the international community.” Besides, he added, many Afghans resent the Taliban and will fight against their return to power.

In the meantime, the Taliban militants, which has refused to declare a ceasefire, managed to take control of 81 of the country’s 419 district centers this week.

Taliban, which has expressed satisfaction over the evacuation of Bagram air base, also made significant military gains in the weeks before, seizing large caches of American weapons, ammo and armored vehicles, in addition to night-vision devices and other equipment as fighting was intensifying between government forces and the group.

Taliban welcome US pullout from Bagram airbase

The Taliban say Afghanistan can get closer to peace and stability now that all US troops are leaving the country, as the foreign forces

"We urge an end to violence, respect for the human rights of all Afghans and serious negotiations in Doha so that a just and durable peace may be achieved," the US Embassy in Kabul said in its statement.

It added in its statement this week that Washington would provide $3 billion dollars in security assistance to Afghanistan in 2022.

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