US cutting staff at Kabul embassy to 'core diplomatic presence'

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US announced on Thursday it is further reducing staff at its Embassy in Kabul as the Taliban seize additional territory from government forces.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US would be cutting down "to a core diplomatic presence in Afghanistan" at the embassy within the coming weeks and the Pentagon will beef up security at the Hamid Karzai International Airport with additional troops to secure the facility as staffers leave the country.

"Let me be very clear about this: the embassy remains open and we plan to continue our diplomatic work in Afghansitan," Price told reporters. "The United States will continue to support consular services and that includes the processing and operations of the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, and we'll continue to engage in diplomacy with the Afghan government."