Western Countries Including the US Gradually Evacuate from Afghanistan... Russia Says "No Evacuation Plan" (Summary)

US State Department: "All Embassy Staff Evacuated from Kabul Airport"
Germany, France, and Others Also Begin Evacuating Embassy Personnel
Russian Ambassador to Meet Taliban Representative to Discuss Security Issues
China to Participate in Afghanistan Reconstruction

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] As the Taliban has effectively taken control of Afghanistan, Western countries are rapidly evacuating from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Russia stated that the Taliban has promised to ensure the safety of foreign diplomatic missions and that it has no plans to evacuate from the area.

On the 16th (local time), the U.S. Department of State announced that all personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan now controlled by the Taliban, have been evacuated. Ned Price, spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, said, "All embassy personnel are currently at Hamid Karzai International Airport," and AFP reported that "the area around the airport has been secured by U.S. military forces." Among the embassy personnel evacuated to the airport was Ross Wilson, the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan.

As the Taliban unexpectedly captured Kabul at a rapid pace, the U.S. Embassy hastily conducted an evacuation operation for its diplomatic staff and their families. CNN reported that on this day alone, 500 U.S. Embassy personnel left Kabul and departed the country. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul was known to have employed about 4,200 staff, one of the largest numbers among U.S. diplomatic missions worldwide.

Not only the United States but also major Western countries' embassies are evacuating their personnel one after another. European countries including Germany, France, and the Netherlands are planning to evacuate not only their nationals but also some Afghan staff members.

Earlier, the German Foreign Minister confirmed the closure of the embassy in Kabul via Twitter and stated that all embassy personnel had evacuated to the military zone of Kabul Airport. According to Germany's dpa news agency, the evacuation of Germans in Kabul officially began on the 16th at dawn when German embassy staff and Swiss embassy staff arrived in Doha, Qatar, aboard a U.S. military aircraft.

CNN reported that France also plans to use military aircraft to evacuate its nationals from Afghanistan to the United Arab Emirates. Canada and Finland have also announced plans to temporarily close their embassies in Afghanistan. Previously, the South Korean Embassy in Kabul was temporarily closed on the 15th, with most of its staff withdrawn to a third country in the Middle East, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In contrast, Russia stated that the Taliban has promised to ensure the safety of foreign diplomatic missions, including Russia's embassy in Kabul, and that it has no plans to evacuate locally. According to RIA Novosti, Dmitry Zhurnov, the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan, said on the state broadcaster Channel 1, "The Taliban said they guarantee the safety of our embassy as well as other foreign diplomatic missions."

TASS news agency cited Zamir Kabulov, the Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan, reporting that Ambassador Zhurnov will meet with Taliban representatives on the 16th to discuss the security and external protection of the Russian embassy.

Turkey also announced that its embassy will continue to operate.

China, which shares a border with Afghanistan through the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is closely monitoring the situation and considering future responses. Chinese state media and experts, seemingly aware of some expectations that China might fill the vacuum left by the U.S. departure, explained that China will not directly intervene in Afghanistan but will play a role in Afghanistan's reconstruction in the future.

Pan Guang, an expert on counterterrorism and Afghanistan studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said, "China, along with other countries such as Tajikistan and Pakistan, has strengthened border controls and engaged in counterterrorism cooperation," adding, "What China can do is participate in Afghanistan's post-war reconstruction and provide investments for its future development."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.