Australia To Close Embassy In Afghanistan Over Security Fears As Foreign Troops Withdraw

Western diplomats and military officials have been scrambling to work out how to provide security for their future civilian presence in Afghanistan amid fears of a Taliban comeback.

Australia on Tuesday abruptly announced it will shutter its embassy in Afghanistan this week, expressing fears over the "increasingly uncertain security environment" in Kabul as foreign troops withdraw. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the facility would close as an "interim measure" on May 28 -- in just three days -- "in light of the imminent international military withdrawal from Afghanistan". The United States and allied forces are in the final stages of withdrawing their troops from Afghanistan, ending America's longest-ever war but heralding an uncertain future for a nation in the tightening grip of Taliban militants. The elected government in Kabul and the Afghan security services remain fragile despite two decades of foreign capacity building, and their success is far from clear without continued US military support.