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Biden administration officials are reportedly asking the Taliban to overlook the American embassy in Kabul when the terrorist group invades the city to topple the country’s government and reassert the supreme rule of Sharia law.
The news that officials were asking the terrorist organization to abstain from attacking the embassy came from two unnamed sources who spoke with The New York Times on Thursday. The State Department added in a statement the same day, “We are withdrawing our forces from Afghanistan, but we are not withdrawing from Afghanistan. Although U.S. troops will depart, the United States will maintain our robust diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan.”
In the meantime, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Thursday afternoon that the U.S. would send 3,000 military personnel to Afghanistan to assist in evacuating the Kabul embassy, with the exception of a “core diplomatic presence.” Those troops are expected to arrive before the end of the weekend.
Taliban forces captured the city of Ghazni earlier in the day, bringing them within 95 miles of the country’s
News also broke on Thursday that Taliban had captured Herat, the country’s third largest city, and the 11th of 34 provincial capitals to fall under Taliban control. The group’s inaugural actions in those cities have included closing schools for girls and informing women they will be rounded up to be married to Taliban fighters.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he stood by his April decision to finish withdrawing U.S. troops from the country by Sept. 11. “Look, we spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years, we trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces,” the president told reporters. “Afghan leaders have to come together. They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.”