U.S. begins evacuating embassy staff from Kabul as Taliban closes in

The U.S. began evacuating diplomats from the American embassy in Kabul and sent more troops to its airport, as the Taliban entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital on Sunday, per multiple reports.

Driving the news: Helicopters began landing near the embassy to conduct “rapid shuttle-run flights,” hours after the Taliban captured the key eastern city of Jalalabad, leaving Kabul as the only major city still under the control of Afghanistan’s government, per AP.

• A U.S. official told Reuters on Sunday morning, “We have a small batch of people leaving now as we speak, a majority of the staff are ready to leave … the embassy continues to function. The embassy continues to function.”
• AP reports “diplomatic armored SUVs” were leaving the area and “wisps of smoke” were seen near the roof of the embassy “as diplomats urgently destroyed sensitive documents.”

What they’re saying: The U.S. Embassy in Kabul tweeted that it had “conveyed to the Taliban reps” in Doha, Qatar, where peace talks have been taking place, that any action on their part that puts American personnel “or our mission at risk” would be met with a “swift” and “strong” response from the U.S. Defense Department.

• “Amb. Tracey Jacobson is in charge of a whole-of-government effort to process, transport, & relocate SIV applicants & other Afghan allies,” the embassy added.

The big picture: President Biden Biden on Saturday ordered 1,000 more troops to secure an airlift of U.S. Embassy personnel and Afghan allies as the Taliban closed in on the Afghan capital.

• Marines arrived in Kabul on Saturday to help secure an airlift of U.S. Embassy personnel, per AP.
• Representatives for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the State Department did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment.