Embassy in Kabul instructs US citizens to shelter in place

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, is instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place amid reports that the city’s airport is under fire. 

“The security situation in Kabul is changing quickly including at the airport. There are reports of the airport taking fire; therefore we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place,” the embassy said in a statement on Sunday.

The latest development comes as the Taliban have entered Kabul and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reportedly fled the country.

A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, told NBC News that the group’s soldiers will be on “standby” until the government peacefully surrenders.

In April, President Biden announced that all U.S. troops would withdraw from Afghanistan after a 20-year military presence there.

Biden has stressed that the Afghan government can oversee the country without U.S. involvement but is sending an additional 5,000 U.S. troops to the country to aid in the evacuation of U.S. Embassy staff.

Updated at 1:19 p.m.