{"id":68191,"date":"2021-04-27T20:52:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T20:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/04\/27\/state-department-orders-drawdown-at-kabul-embassy-as-us-troops-leave-afghanistan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:47:16","slug":"state-department-orders-drawdown-at-kabul-embassy-as-us-troops-leave-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/04\/27\/state-department-orders-drawdown-at-kabul-embassy-as-us-troops-leave-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"State Department orders drawdown at Kabul embassy as US troops leave Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The State Department on Tuesday ordered a significant number of its remaining staff at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to leave Afghanistan as the military steps up the pullout of American troops<\/a> from the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The order came as the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan told lawmakers that it no longer made sense to continue the 20-year deployment of American troops there. At the same time, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said he shared lawmakers\u2019 concerns that the rights of women and minorities could be jeopardized after the withdrawal is complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should all remain concerned that those rights could suffer,\u201d Khalilzad told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Asked if the U.S. would retain any leverage to protect those rights once its troops are gone, Khalilzad was circumspect. He said aid and other types of diplomatic support \u201cwould be not available if they did not respect the human rights of Afghan women or others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t