US Calls Taliban Takeover ‘Heart Wrenching’
Voice of America
WASHINGTON - The United States’ top diplomat is calling the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the imminent fall of Kabul “heart-wrenching stuff,” and says U.S. forces are working to get all Americans, as well as Afghans who worked with the U.S., out of the country.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken Sunday said the safety of U.S. personnel, some of whom are still at the embassy, and Afghan helpers was “job number one,” fending off criticism that Washington was unprepared for the rapid collapse of Afghan forces. The U.S. will "do everything we possibly can for as long as we can to get them out if that's what they want," Blinken told CNN’s "State of the Union." "We haven't asked the Taliban for anything," Blinken added. "We've told the Taliban that if they interfere w/our personnel, w/our operations, as we're proceeding with this drawdown, there will be a swift and decisive response."A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's rocket launch during a news program at a bus terminal in Seoul, South Korea, May 27, 2024. FILE - Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks to reporters in Colombo, July 29, 2023. FILE - A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's spy satellite into orbit with its third launch attempt this year with an image of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.