Aug. 14 (UPI) — Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday said he seeks to avoid “further instability” amid Taliban advances toward Kabul.
His address to the public came as the Taliban seized the country’s 18th provincial capital, Sherana, CNN reported.
Sherana is among the more than half of the country’s provincial capitals the Taliban have seized in the past eight days — including the major cities of Kandahar, Lashkar Gah, and Herat — amid U.S. forces nearing the end of their withdrawal from a 20-year war.
Ghani offered condolences to the families of fallen soldiers and civilians, and praised the Afghan National Defense and Security Force for their efforts and bravery in his address.
He also said that currently the priority is coordination with the ANDSF, and “we are taking serious steps,” as the country faces “serious threats of instability.”
“I am aware of your concerns about your present and future, I would like to assure you that as your president all my focus is to avoid further instability, aggression and displacement,” Ghani said. “As a historic responsibility, I will endeavor not to allow the current war to further kill innocent people and to lose their 20-year gains and destroy public property.
“For these reasons I have initiated consultations with elders and political figures and different ethnic leaders and international partners,” he continued. “Consultations are under way and the outcome will be shared with you all very soon … I always wanted success and progress of Afghanistan and will continue my endeavors.”
The Pentagon, meanwhile, ordered the deployment of 3,000 troops to Afghanistan Thursday to assist in the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
The U.S. Embassy presence will be reduced to a “core diplomatic presence,” the Biden administration announced Thursday, and the United States is considering relocating the U.S. Embassy to the Kabul airport, a U.S. official, a Western diplomatic source and another source familiar with the situation told CNN Thursday.
The 3,000 U.S. troops will also help with the drawdown of U.S. forces expected to completely withdraw by the end of the month, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday.