US diplomatic presence expected to be reduced to 'skeletal crew' in next 24 hours
Aug 28, 2021
Washington [US], August 28 : Diplomatic presence of United States in Afghanistan is expected to be reduced to a "skeletal crew" in the next 24 hours, US media on Saturday said citing sources.
Some individuals or small families were still "being pulled through the gates somehow" as of Saturday, CNN reported citing a source familiar with the situation. It further stated that the gates have been closed for days. The numbers getting on were thought to be "a very tiny subset, consisting of single people or families. However, the US has said they had alternate routes to the airport.
The source said US airport staff were "still getting hit up by tons of people trying to get in."
This follows the deadly blasts which rocked Kabul on Thursday , in which more than 170 people were killed and at least 200 were wounded, in addition to the 13 US service members who were also killed, an official with Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health told CNN,
The source said it was unclear if the evacuation of local embassy employees had finished, but that hundreds more had been reported as having got to the airport and that "hundreds more have departed for interim locations."
The US has evacuated nearly 6800 people in the past 24 hours from Afghanistan bringing the total number of evacuees to 1,11,900 since August 14, a top official said on Saturday.
Afghanistan's situation is deteriorating as people rush to leave the nation after the Taliban seized control over a week ago.
On August 15, the Afghan government fell soon after President Ashraf Ghani left the nation. Countries have been evacuating their citizens from the war-torn nation speedily.
The Kabul airport is witnessing nowadays a heavy chaos due to instability in the region.
