State Department Spokesperson Ned Price says the U.S. is calling for an “end to the ongoing violence” in Afghanistan.
Watch the briefing in the player above.
This comes as a surge of Taliban wins in northern Afghanistan has caused some countries to close their consulates in the region, while across the border in Tajikistan, reservists are being called up to reinforce the southern border.
Nearly 1,000 Afghan soldiers have fled the Taliban advances by crossing the border into Tajikistan, according to reports from Tajikistan.
The Taliban have made relentless territorial wins since mid-April, when President Joe Biden announced the last 2,500-3,500 U.S. soldiers and 7,000 allied NATO soldiers would leave Afghanistan.
Most have left quietly already, well before the announced deadline in September.
The full withdrawal is not expected to be completed until the end of August – and not before an agreement on how to protect Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport is reached.
Months-old peace talks being held in Qatar between Taliban and a fractious Afghan government have all but stopped, even as both sides say they want a negotiated end to the decades-long conflict.
