US flag comes down from embassy in Kabul amid evacuation
A State Department official says the American flag is no longer flying at the US Embassy in Kabul amid evacuations from Afghanistan's capital. The official tells The Associated Press that nearly all embassy personnel have been relocated to the city's international airport. The official says the flag itself is with embassy personnel, who are among thousands of Americans and others waiting for flights.
Steps being taken to secure the airport for safe departures
The official wasn't authorized to discuss details publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. In a joint statement on Sunday, the State Department and the Pentagon say they are taking steps to secure the airport for safe departures by way of civilian and military flights. The statement says the US security presence will have expanded to nearly 6,000 troops over the next two days.
Those leaving include American citizens and other vulnerable Afghan nationals
The US security presence will take over air traffic control. Those leaving include American citizens who have been living in Afghanistan, locally employed staff of the US mission in Kabul and their families, and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals. Also part of the departure plan are thousands of Afghans eligible for US special immigrant visas.
Taliban had reached Kabul on Sunday
Nearly 2,000 of those with special visas have arrived in the US over the past two weeks. The Taliban astonishingly seized city after city before reaching Kabul on Sunday afternoon and asking for a "peaceful transition" of power, which it was given. The insurgents faced little resistance in most parts of the country as Afghan forces and powerful former warlords all but surrendered.
President Ashraf Ghani has fled Afghanistan
Both President Ashraf Ghani and his deputy, Vice-President Amarullah Saleh, fled the country earlier on Sunday after the Taliban announced it was on the outskirts of the city and was negotiating a peaceful surrender with the Western-backed government.
Donald Trump blames Joe Biden for 'tragic mess' in Afghanistan
Meanwhile, former United States President Donald Trump said the collapse of Kabul without any resistance to the Taliban will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history. "What Joe Biden has done with Afghanistan is legendary. It will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history," Trump said hours after the Taliban occupied the presidential palace in Kabul.
