Afghanistan’s Khaama Press reported Friday that Canada has dispatched “an unknown number of Special Forces” troops to Afghanistan to evacuate staffers from the embassy in Kabul.
The United Kingdom said Thursday it will send 600 troops to help its own 4,000 nationals withdraw as the Taliban closes in on Kabul, while the United States hastily committed 3,000 troops to a similar effort.
A Canadian official not authorized to publicly discuss the special forces deployment told the Associated Press that special forces operators would be sent to protect the Kabul embassy, where staffers are currently shredding sensitive papers and preparing to evacuate.
Canada deployed about 40,000 troops to Afghanistan under the auspices of NATO but began withdrawing them in 2014.
“The highly-trained soldiers are expected to work alongside allies, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, which are sending thousands of troops to the Afghan capital to aid in the partial evacuation of their embassies as security throughout the war-torn country rapidly deteriorates,” a Canadian defense source told CBC News.
CBC’s source said there has been an “extensive discussion between the Canadian military and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)” about U.S. forces providing “logistical and transport assistance” for Canada’s evacuation effort.
The Canadian government in July announced a program to resettle Afghans who served in positions “integral” to the Armed Forces mission, such as interpreters and drivers, to help them escape from Taliban retribution. Closing the Kabul embassy suddenly would severely hinder that program.
Canadian officials on Friday refused to state if a shutdown of the Canadian embassy in Kabul is imminent.
The U.K. military watched in frustration as Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province and focus of the British war effort in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, fell to the Taliban on Friday. Almost all of the U.K.’s 457 casualties in Afghanistan were sustained in Helmand.
“The political will to see through enduring support to Afghanistan has not been there, and a lot of people are going to die because of that, and for me that is extremely humiliating,” former U.K. defense minister Johnny Mercer, who served in Afghanistan, told the BBC on Thursday.
Canada was comparably disheartened by the fall of Kandahar, where the Canadian combat deployment to Afghanistan was focused.
As with the United States, Afghanistan was Canada’s longest war; its mission began in 2001 and lasted until 2014. 165 Canadians died during the war, and over 2,000 were wounded. Kandahar fell to the Taliban without resistance on Friday, marking the symbolic restoration of the “Islamic Emirate.”