WASHINGTON—The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan said Tuesday that it has ordered all nonessential staff to leave the country, as concerns mount about an escalation in violence after the Taliban’s May 1 deadline for all troops to withdraw expires next week.
Under the terms of the U.S. deal signed with the Taliban last year, all U.S. troops and contractors were to leave by May 1 in return for security guarantees by the group. President Biden said this month that the U.S. would completely withdraw by Sept. 11.
The Taliban have threatened to escalate attacks if the U.S. misses the May 1 deadline. It wasn’t immediately clear how many U.S. staff would leave Afghanistan in the coming days, or how many would stay behind.
“Even as we’re withdrawing our forces, we are not disengaging from Afghanistan,” Secretary of State
Antony Blinken
said Tuesday on CNN. “We’re remaining deeply engaged in…