US Embassy officials in Kabul warned top Washington officials of Taliban takeover in July, says report

Washington: US Embassy officials in Kabul had warned top officials in Washington of the Afghanistan government’s collapse in July, a media report said on Thursday. In July, nearly two dozen US officials in the Kabul embassy had warned Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top Amerian officials of the Afghanistan government’s fall soon after the completion of US troops withdrawal, The Wall Street Journal reported. The cable was sent through the State Department’s confidential dissent channel. The cable warned of rapid territorial gains by the Taliban and the subsequent collapse of Afghan security forces and offered recommendations on ways to mitigate the crisis and speed up an evacuation, The Wall Street Journal quoted two people as saying. The cable, dated 13 July, also called for the State Department to use tougher language in describing the atrocities being committed by the Taliban, one of the people said. US officials’ classified information had told the State Department that the Taliban’s aggressive advance might not be stopped by Afghanistan’s government forces. Officials have also informed Washington that they should start collecting data of Afghans who helped the US and qualify for special immigrant visas. They also asked Washington to begin the evacuation process by August 1 not beyond that. Nearly 23 officials signed the cable that went to Blinken and Director of Policy Planning Salman Ahmad, The Wall Street Journal added.