The U.S embassy in Kabul has said that it has only a core diplomatic presence in light of the security situation in Afghanistan.

Thousands of U.S forces are being deployed back to Afghanistan to safeguard the ongoing withdrawal of U.S forces and civilians.

600 British soldiers are being deployed to evacuate British citizens.

“Afghans at heightened risk of persecution from advancing Taliban forces are in urgent need of evacuation and international protection abroad,” Human Rights Watch said today.

“The Security Council is set to renew the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in September. UNAMA’s mandate should be expanded to explicitly include collecting information and evidence of serious violations and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict. The council should instruct UNAMA to publicly report on its findings and share information and evidence with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court as well as other international or domestic bodies investigating war crimes and other abuses in Afghanistan,” Human Rights Watch said.

“The Taliban have a long record of abusing or killing civilians they deem ‘enemies,’” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Whether from inside or outside of Afghanistan, governments and UN offices should provide protection and assistance to at-risk Afghans and make processing travel documents and transportation a priority.”

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday he would not give up the “achievements” of the last 20 years and that “consultations” are underway. He said remobilisation of armed forces is a top priority.

According to some reports, the Taliban has effectively surrounded Kabul.

Aljazeera/Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/08/13/afghanistan-risk-civilians-need-evacuation-protection