Embassy of the United States, Kabul
The Embassy of the United States of America in Kabul was the official diplomatic mission of the United States of America to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Its chancery on Great Massoud Road in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of the Afghan capital of Kabul was built at a cost of nearly $800 million.
On August 15, 2021, in the face of a Taliban advance on Kabul, embassy staff moved to makeshift facilities at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Kabul fell and the chancery building officially closed later that day. The embassy lacked a Senate-confirmed ambassador at the time of the Taliban takeover; the final head of the mission in Afghanistan was Chargé d'Affaires Ross Wilson. On August 31, 2021, the embassy suspended operations in Afghanistan and transferred operations to Doha, Qatar, with former deputy chief of mission Ian McCary serving as Chargé d'Affaires. The U.S. Interests Section at the Embassy of Qatar in Kabul was established as the protecting power of the U.S. in Afghanistan on December 31.
History
Initially, Afghanistan was served concurrently by the legation to Iran, with William H. Hornibrook serving as the first minister to the country. A legation in Kabul was established in 1942, which was elevated to an embassy in May 1948. Louis G. Dreyfus, who previously served as Minister Plenipotentiary from 1941 to 1942, then became the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, serving from 1949 to 1951. In 1979, then-ambassador Adolph Dubs was kidnapped and ultimately assassinated under mysterious circumstances. It was closed in 1989, before the start of the long civil war followed by the Taliban takeover. A U.S. liaison office was opened after the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 before the embassy was reopened in 2002. A new complex was under construction until early 2006, when U.S. President George W. Bush along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai held an inauguration ceremony. The U.S. State Department planned to spend another $500 million to further expand its premises, which was scheduled to be completed in 2014. However, the U.S. State Department extended the completion date to July 2016. The final cost of the chancery was $792 million.Operation Enduring Freedom
During the very early phases of Operation Enduring Freedom, a small detachment of U.S. Marines from Kilo Battery 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines, accompanied by a four-man Marine Scout/Sniper team from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, attached to the 26 MEU, who specialized in Embassy Reinforcement was tasked with retaking the U.S. Embassy in Kabul in early December 2001. This unit was part of one of the longest amphibious operations in Marine Corps history starting the assault from LCAC's into Pakistan then moving on to Bagram Airfield before the airfield was fully secured by U.S. and Coalition troops. The Marines set up camp inside of a factory building and secured local transportation in the form of Afghan private buses driven by Marines to disguise their pending assault on the embassy. They left in the early morning and secured and held the embassy until Diplomatic Security Services arrived to properly handle the sensitive information that was still locked in the embassy and to measure the compound's suitability for a continued U.S. presence on the site. Later that month, the Marines from this unit were the first Marines to raise the U.S. flag in the embassy since the embassy was closed in 1989. This was the same flag that had flown over the U.S. Embassy in Kabul that day when it closed in 1989.September 2011 attack
Heavily armed Taliban insurgents wearing suicide vests struck various buildings in Kabul on 13 September 2011, and at least 7 people were killed and 19 wounded. The U.S. embassy was among the buildings targeted and several Afghan visa applicants who were waiting at the embassy were wounded. No embassy personnel were hurt in the incident. The United States blamed the Pakistani Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence spy network for the attack. Another deadly attack at an annex to the embassy occurred later the same month.April 2012 attack
As part of a nationwide series of coordinated attacks, Taliban elements attacked the embassy on April 15, 2012. The attack was defeated by Afghan security forces. Gen John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, stated he was "enormously proud" of the response mounted by Afghan security forces. He added: "No one is underestimating the seriousness of the attacks, and we'll work hard to determine the circumstances that led to today's events."September 2019 attack
On September 11, 2019, a rocket exploded at the embassy, marking an attack on the 18th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.COVID-19 outbreak June 2021
The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Afghanistan resulted in the infection of 159 embassy workers by June 22, 2021. There were several medical evacuations and at least one death. A mid-June report described COVID-19 as "surging" in the embassy, which was then subject to COVID-19 lockdowns. Remote work was mandated for all staff, as was adherence to social distancing requirements.U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan 2021
On 14 April 2021, President Biden announced his intention to withdraw all regular US troops from Afghanistan by 11 September 2021. On 27 April, the State Department ordered employees at the Kabul embassy to leave if their "function be performed elsewhere." The move was not expected to reduce embassy capability. At the time, the 2021 Taliban offensive had not yet begun.The departure of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan was set to see approximately 650 Marines remain to protect diplomats and the embassy, which would remain open, indefinitely. Additionally, some would aid in guarding Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, considered a "critical requirement to keeping any U.S. diplomatic staff in Afghanistan." Airport security was initially to be delegated to Turkey post-withdrawal, before the rapid Taliban offensive saw Kabul threatened within days. Navy Rear Adm. Peter Vasely led the embassy's 650-strong security mission.
On 2 July, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin approved U.S. Forces Afghanistan Forward, a new command for troops remaining in Afghanistan for embassy and airport security. Vasely became the senior U.S. military officer in Kabul and the command's leader; he is supported by Defense Security Cooperation Management Office Afghanistan in Qatar and reports to US Central Command, commander General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr.
On 7 August, the embassy issued a security alert urging all Americans to immediately leave Afghanistan due to increased security threats from the ongoing Taliban offensive and a reduction of staff at the embassy. The embassy offered repatriation loans to U.S. citizens to fly out of the country on commercial airlines. As a result of the Taliban's continuing offensive, the State Department considered an evacuation of the embassy. In an effort to avoid having to evacuate the embassy, U.S. negotiators reportedly sought assurances from the Taliban that they will not attack the embassy if they overrun Kabul.
Embassy officials reportedly clashed with Pentagon officials on whether or not to reduce the American diplomatic footprint as military forces withdrew.
Partial evacuation of embassy compound
On 12 August, the State Department announced a partial evacuation of the embassy. 3,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines were temporarily deployed to Kabul to evacuate an unspecified number of the 4,000 embassy staff, 1,400 of whom were U.S. citizens. State Department spokesman Ned Price stressed that the embassy would "remain open" with a "core diplomatic presence" remaining. In the event that Taliban forces assaulted the embassy mid-evacuation, a contingency force of 3,500 soldiers was sent to Kuwait.On 13 August, Price stated that the Taliban had agreed not to attack diplomatic facilities, although he stressed that the U.S. was "not going to trust anything the Taliban says" and would verify intentions through intelligence. Embassy staff were ordered to destroy classified documents, electronics, and equipment, as well as American flags that could be "misused" for propaganda purposes. Citing unnamed officials, POLITICO reported that the Defense Department was preparing for a full evacuation and closure of the embassy and that USCENTCOM saw such an event as "inevitable."
Evacuation to Hamid Karzai International Airport
On August 14, soldiers and Marines already in Kabul enhanced security of Hamid Karzai International Airport for use by evacuating diplomatic staff and Special Immigrant Visa Afghan embassy workers and translators. Military evacuation planes began flying out daily and the number of evacuated SIV recipients was increased. Spokesman Price stated that, as a contingency, embassy operations could be moved to the airport. President Biden additionally deployed a further 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne to Kabul to provide additional security.Also on 14 August, the State Department requested help by humanitarian groups in identifying Afghans in need of evacuation. As of the weekend of August 14–15, informal groups of American NGOs, Afghanistan veterans, and former officials and diplomats began attempting to evacuate local Afghans awaiting official State Department evacuations or SIV application processing. Individuals leveraged connections with Congresspeople and then State and Defense Department officials to help evacuees, seeing the formal process as too bureaucratic and slow. The embassy's consular section also began soliciting information from non-diplomatic Americans citizens seeking evacuation from Afghanistan.
By early August 15, Taliban forces surrounded Kabul and sent unarmed fighters to negotiate a "peaceful transfer of power." Taliban spokesmen claimed to be in ongoing negotiations with the Afghan government and said their fighters had been ordered not to enter the city. On the same day, according to the BBC, Chargé d'Affaires Ross Wilson "fled the embassy" for heavily secure Hamid Karzai Airport.
Military helicopters made repeat trips to ferry all U.S. diplomats and officials from the embassy to the airport, firing flares to deter midair Taliban rocket attacks. Troops, contractors, and civilians also awaited for evacuation at the airport. The "core diplomatic presence" the State Department stated it would keep in Afghanistan on August 12 was moved to a new secure location in Hamid Karzai Airport.
Reportedly, Zalmay Khalilzad, American Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation and chief negotiator in the Doha, Qatar peace talks with the Taliban, asked the Taliban not to enter Kabul until the U.S. evacuated an estimated 10,000 American citizens, embassy staff, and current and former Afghan workers and translators that have assisted Americans. The Taliban countered by demanding an end to American airstrikes against their forces. Shortly after 2:00 pm UTC, some Taliban forces entered Kabul, although most fighters remained on the city's outskirts. President Ashraf Ghani had fled to Tajikistan or Uzbekistan shortly before and Vice President Amrullah Saleh also left. Taliban forces claimed to be seeking a "peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power;" there were few reports of conflict. Approximately 10 minutes later, Taliban fighters entered the city and occupied police districts to "prevent looting" and "maintain order" after Islamic Republic of Afghanistan forces fled; thus, Kabul fell without a fight.
Later, acting Interior Minister of Afghanistan Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal announced that the Western-backed Afghan government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, would surrender to the Taliban, the post-2001 continuation of the former 1996-2001 Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan . Mirzakwal also stated the Taliban would take control of the country through an interim government.