Sweden will reduce the number of staff at its embassy in Kabul due to safety concerns as the Taliban is inching closer to the capital of Afghanistan after capturing over half of the 34 provincial capital.
"The safety of the staff at the embassy is a top priority," Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde said in a series of tweets.
While Sweden has decided not to evacuate all staff at this stage, Linde said, "there are well-developed preparations for the evacuation of the embassy staff, which may become relevant at short notice."
This comes as several countries in Afghanistan are evacuating their diplomats and staff from Afghanistan as violence in the country intensifies.
Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified its offensive against Afghan forces and civilians with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away.
Due to rising violence in the country by the Taliban, the situation is deteriorating badly as the terror group has been looting people and killing civilians after capturing multiple areas from the government.
The Taliban escalated its offensive against the Afghan forces soon after the US forces started leaving Afghanistan in large numbers after the peace deal signed between Washington and the Taliban in February last year.
Taliban has toppled six provincial capitals in the past 24 hours which brings the total number of provinces fallen to the terrorists to 18, local media reported on Friday.
Khaama Press reported that centres of Kandahar, Helmand, Herat, Badghis, Ghor, Logar, Zabul, and Oruzgan provinces fell to the Taliban in the past 24 hours.
( With inputs from ANI )
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