U.S. sending troops for partial Afghan embassy evacuation

With security rapidly deteriorating in Afghanistan, the United States is sending in an additional 3,000 troops to help evacuate some personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, officials said Thursday.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said one Army and two Marine infantry battalions will enter Afghanistan within the next two days to assist at the Kabul airport with the partial embassy evacuation.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said diplomatic work will continue at the embassy.

“Our first responsibility has always been protecting the safety and the security of our citizens serving in Afghanistan, and around the world,” Price said at a State Department briefing, calling the the speed of the

Taliban advance and resulting instability “of grave concern.”

Price insisted Thursday’s move shouldn’t be seen as encouraging an already emboldened Taliban and said, “We are committed to supporting Afghanistan and its people. That commitment remains.”

But the move suggests a lack of confidence by the Biden administration in the Afghan government’s ability to provide sufficient diplomatic security in Kabul as a series of provincial capitals have fallen to a Taliban offensive this week.

Kirby said an additional 1,000 members of an Army-Air Force task force were going to the Gulf country of Qatar to help with visa processing for the ongoing evacuation of former translators and other Afghans who had worked with Americans in Afghanistan.