Australia shutting down Kabul embassy as troops pack to leave Afghanistan

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Driven by concerns over the security environment in Afghanistan growing 'increasingly uncertain,' Australia says it is shutting down its embassy in Kabul amid the ongoing withdrawal of foreign forces from the South Asian country.

Making the announcement on Tuesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison highlighted the temporariness of the measure that would take effect as of Friday.

The decision was made "in light of the imminent international military withdrawal from Afghanistan,” he said.

The United States and its NATO allies are in the process of pulling out their forces from Afghanistan as part of an apparent attempt to finally bring down the curtain on the war and occupation that have lasted for two decades.

Initially, and as agreed under a deal the US struck with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar last year, all foreign troops should have left Afghanistan by May 1. But last month, US President Joe Biden pushed the deadline back to September 11.

The Taliban have warned that the failure to meet the May 1 deadline has in fact “opened the way for” the militants to take every counteraction they deem appropriate against foreign forces that are still present in Afghanistan.

Around 80 Australian troops are also leaving Afghanistan.

Morrison said that his government “has been advised that security arrangements could not be provided to support our ongoing diplomatic presence.”

"It is Australia's expectation that this measure will be temporary and that we will resume a permanent presence in Kabul once circumstances permit," he added.

It was not clear whether there was a specific threat made against the embassy.

The United States has lately raised the issue of providing security for foreign diplomats in Afghanistan after the withdrawal, in the face of threats from the Taliban and terrorist groups such as Daesh, which, according to US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ross Wilson, remain a “potent” force there.

Lately, there has been renewed heavy fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban, raising fears of the militants' takeover of the country in the absence of a peace deal with the government in Kabul.

But that has not stopped President Ashraf Ghani from giving assurances that the Afghan military is fully prepared to deal with the Taliban once foreign troopers are out. He has also urged the Taliban to announce a permanent truce.

The militant group has, however, intensified fighting even as the withdrawal is in process and its representatives are engaged in peace talks with the Afghan government.

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