PARIS (AP) — France on Tuesday urged all its citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately given growing security risks, and is arranging a special weekend evacuation flight.
The French Embassy in Kabul published a message urging “the entire French community” in Afghanistan to leave, citing “the evolution of the security situation in the country” and the “short-term prospects” for Afghanistan. It didn’t elaborate.
The message said that France can no longer guarantee safe evacuation after Saturday’s government-chartered flight to Paris.
The announcement comes as the US is winding up its 20-year war in Afghanistan and with other NATO troops having already left.
Taliban fighters are taking control of large swaths of the country, surging through district after district.
The outgoing US commander warned that increasing violence is seriously hurting Afghanistan’s chances of finding a peaceful end to decades of war.
