US embassy shredding burning documents as Taliban advances on Kabul

By Jennifer Jacobs, Nick Wadhams and Josh WingroveUpdated August 14, 2021 â€" 5.57pmfirst published at 2.18pmNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size

Kabul: The US Embassy staff in Kabul, Afghanistan, has been told to start destroying anything with American logos or flags that could be used in propaganda efforts as the Taliban surge comes within 12 kilometres of Kabul, following the capture of the neighbouring province of Logar on Saturday.

The Taliban captured all of Logar and detained its provincial officials, Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province, said on Saturday. She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just 11 kilometres south of the capital, Kabul.

Earlier Saturday, the insurgents launched a multi-pronged assault on Mazar-e-Sharif, a major city in northern Afghanistan defended by powerful former warlords.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had flown to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city’s defences, meeting with several militia commanders allied with the government.

Murals are seen along the walls at a quiet US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan.Credit:Getty Images

The Taliban has captured most of northern, western and southern Afghanistan in recent weeks, leaving the Western-backed government in control of a smattering of provinces in the centre and east, as well as the capital, Kabul.

As US intelligence estimates that the Taliban could wrest control of the capital within the month, a notice to all American personnel at the US embassy, sent on Friday from the facilities manager, asks staff to “reduce the amount of sensitive material on the property”, according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg News. It asks that they destroy anything with US logos, flags “or items which could be misused in propaganda efforts”.

The email details the ways diplomats can destroy material: use burn bins and shredders for paper, a disintegrator for electronics, incinerators for medical waste and a compactor that “can crush items that are too big for the disintegrator.” It says the embassy will offer what it calls “destruction support” between 8.30am and 4pm until further notice.

“These destruction methods are not appropriate for weapons, ammunition and similar items,” it reads.

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Two administration officials, who discussed the internal memo on condition of anonymity, said the destruction procedure is standard when a US outpost abroad is being scaled down. One of the officials said it’s consistent with established plans for most US forces in Afghanistan to depart by the end of the month but acknowledged the Taliban’s advances played a role.

Defence spokesman John Kirby told reporters that it appeared the Taliban was “trying to get Kabul isolated” but that the capital city wasn’t under “imminent threat”. He said the speed at which the Taliban has taken over provincial capitals is “deeply concerning”. The first of 3000 troops being brought in to help evacuate many of the embassy’s employees has arrived.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a briefing on Thursday that the embassy remained open for now. “This is not abandonment, this is not an evacuation, this is not a wholesale withdrawal,” Price said.

The Taliban took four more cities across Afghanistan on Friday, adding to the tally of major population centres they’ve taken in recent days. Bismillah Jan Mohammad and Qudratullah Rahimi, MPs from Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province, said local officials surrendered Tarin Kowt to the Taliban. Tarin Kowt is the former base of Australian soldiers who were there as part of the western coalition forces. Many Afghan civilians who worked alongside the Australians are thought to be still trapped there.

The temporary build-up of troops to help evacuations highlights the stunning pace of the Taliban takeover of much of the country, less than three weeks before the US is set to officially end nearly 20 years of combat in Afghanistan.

US President Joe Biden has remained adamant about ending the mission on August 31, insisting the American and NATO mission that launched on October 7, 2001, has done what it could to build a Kabul-based Afghan government and military that could withstand the Taliban when Western troops finally withdrew.

Friday’s latest significant blow was the Taliban capture of the capital of Helmand province, where American, British and other allied NATO forces fought some of the bloodiest battles in the past 20 years. Hundreds of Western troops died there during the war, in fighting that often succeeded in knocking back Taliban fighters locally, only to have the Taliban move back in when a Western unit rotated out.

The US State Department said the embassy in Kabul would remain partially staffed and functioning, but Thursday’s decision to evacuate a significant number of embassy staff and bring in the thousands of additional US troops is a sign of waning confidence in the Afghan government’s ability to hold off the Taliban surge. The Biden administration has not ruled out a full embassy evacuation.

Bloomberg, AP

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