The Council of the North Atlantic Alliance held an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

As a result, a statement by the Secretary General of the military bloc Jens Stoltenberg was published on the NATO website, which states the intention of the Western states to maintain a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan and continue to support the government in Kabul.

“Our goal is to provide the greatest possible support to the Afghan government and Afghan security forces.

NATO will maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul, ”Stoltenberg said.

On August 12, it became known that the United States would deploy additional troops to Afghanistan to protect the American embassy.

The number of the contingent will be 3 thousand people.

This was announced to reporters by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

He stressed that this is a temporary measure due to the degradation of the security situation in and around Kabul.

  • U.S. Embassy in Kabul

  • © Wikimedia Commons

“We see this as a smart move given the rapidly deteriorating security situation in and around Kabul,” Kirby said at a press briefing in Washington.

According to him, in the next 24-48 hours, three battalions of the US Armed Forces, including two marines, will arrive in the republic.

They will be airlifted to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

Later, the Pentagon explained that they had already begun sending additional forces to Kabul.

Most of them should be "in place" by the end of the weekend.

Also, about 1,000 more military personnel will arrive in Afghanistan to process applications of citizens of the country for obtaining special immigration visas SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) to the United States.

Such documents will be issued to Afghans who have worked closely with the US contingent.

“The next step is to send a combined US Army and Air Force support unit of about 1,000 people to help process SIV applications,” Kirby said.

In addition, the United States will deploy an infantry brigade from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to Kuwait over the next week.

The military will serve as a rapid response force for the United States in Afghanistan.

In total, the measures taken by the Pentagon to respond to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan will affect about 8 thousand servicemen.

All of them will be subordinate to the command of the US Armed Forces in Kabul and, as Kirby emphasized, have the right to self-defense.

"Field support"

According to the Pentagon, the transfer of additional troops to Afghanistan and Kuwait is dictated by the need to protect the US Embassy in Kabul and ensure the safe departure of diplomats.

Now, as Kirby told reporters, about 650 soldiers and officers are stationed in the capital of the republic.

At a press briefing on August 12, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Washington is currently cutting the diplomatic staff of the embassy in Kabul.

For this reason, it was necessary to deploy additional troops at the Hamid Karzai airport, from where diplomats are being evacuated.

As a State Department spokesman explained, the civilian presence in Afghanistan is declining in light of the changing security situation.

At the same time, he noted that the United States will continue diplomatic interaction with the government of the republic.

Along with the United States, Britain decided to increase its military presence in Afghanistan.

On August 12, the head of the United Kingdom's defense department, Ben Wallace, announced that London would send several hundred more troops to the republic.

As in the case of the United States, the words about the protection of diplomats who leave the country, help to their own citizens and local residents who collaborated with the British troops were chosen as a pretext for the transfer of an additional contingent to Afghanistan.

In addition, a number of Western media, referring to sources, reported Canada's decision to send additional troops to Afghanistan.

There is no information about the size of the Canadian contingent.

At the same time, Washington denies the likelihood of maintaining a large-scale foreign military presence in the republic after the date of the withdrawal of troops announced by US President Joe Biden - August 31.

  • American instructors train Afghan government troops

  • Reuters

  • © Omar Sobhani

At the same time, the United States authorities have not yet named the exact number of servicemen who will remain in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of the main forces.

At a recent press briefing, Kirby said there would be fewer than 1,000 troops in Kabul.

Their main task will be to guard the embassy.

Meanwhile, the Taliban * since June this year have been conducting a successful offensive against the provinces of Afghanistan.

So, on August 12, representatives of this radical movement announced the capture of the provincial capital Badghis and five large cities: Herat, Kandahar, Ghanzi, Kalayi-Nau, Talinkot.

According to the Associated Press (AP), the Taliban now controls more than two-thirds of Afghanistan's territory, and the militants are moving to Logar province, which is located south of Kabul.

Fighting is taking place over its capital, Puli Alam, where, according to the Taliban, the police headquarters have already been seized.

According to AR journalists, Afghan government troops are forced to retreat to concentrate on the defense of Kabul and other cities.

The regular army of the republic, in which the US has invested about $ 830 billion, is abandoning US-supplied military equipment and firearms, and these weapons are used by Taliban militants.

Citing forecasts from US military intelligence, the agency claims that the radicals are capable of taking full control of the country within a few months.

In 30 days, the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, may be under the threat of a Taliban invasion.

However, according to sources in The New York Times, Washington is already trying to negotiate security guarantees for its embassy staff if the government loses control of Kabul.

  • Taliban in Afghanistan

  • Reuters

  • © Jalil Ahmad

At the same time, the United States does not abandon its attempts to contain the Taliban offensive.

In particular, providing fire support to government forces from the air.

So, on August 7, the Pentagon used B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban from seizing the city of Shibergan in the Jowzjan province.

“For the time being, we remain focused on supporting Afghan forces in the field — where and when possible from the air — and completing the safe and orderly withdrawal of our troops,” Kirby explained in an August 11 news briefing.

"Under siege"

In an interview with RT, Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that the situation in Afghanistan is not developing in the interests of the United States.

In this regard, Washington is looking for ways to militarily counter the Taliban.

“The Americans still have the opportunity to widely use aviation, but as the troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan, it will be harder to do, since neighboring countries do not allow American bases to be opened on their territories.

However, air strikes do not have a serious impact on the situation, only forcing the Taliban to retreat for a while, ”said Kozyulin.

According to the expert, the American authorities are aware of the high probability of the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban and have lost faith in their ability to stabilize the situation through diplomatic means.

Kozyulin suggests that with the help of the transfer of additional troops, the Pentagon will try to maintain control over some military bases, but given the rapid advance of the Taliban, American forces at these facilities risk being "under siege."

“The US leadership should be very careful in its plans to build up its military presence, even if it is temporary.

Today, any foreign soldier in Afghanistan turns into a target or a way to receive money for a ransom, ”says Kozyulin.

The interlocutor of RT believes that current US policy is putting at risk not only the Americans themselves, but also a huge number of peaceful Afghans.

As a result, the expert admits the likelihood of a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan and an increase in the flow of refugees.

A similar point of view is shared by Omar Nessar, a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary Afghanistan (CISA).

In a commentary on RT, the expert said that the most serious humanitarian consequences for Afghanistan will come with the deployment of battles for Kabul.

Given this development of events, Nessar does not exclude the fact of a periodic transfer of American troops into the country.

“One of the obvious goals of the United States is to prevent an attack on Kabul and generally slow down the advance of the Taliban.

And Washington cannot fail to understand that this requires a large-scale presence of American troops.

It is difficult to predict, but the practice of, shall we say, temporary US military missions may become the norm, ”Nessar said.

According to the expert, Biden made a huge mistake by deciding to quickly wind up the military operation in Afghanistan.

“As far as I understand, Biden's logic is to distinguish himself from his predecessors - to end the war in Afghanistan and to make progress in a political settlement.

However, what is happening now is the failure of American policy.

The United States did not achieve any of its goals, and Afghanistan was brought to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, ”Nessar stressed.

* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.