France today called on all its citizens to leave Afghanistan, citing “emerging security situation” and “short-term prospects” as the Taliban mediate. They called on the inhabitants of the big cities to surrender in order to avoid fighting in urban centers.

A special French government flight will depart from Kabul in the morning of July 17 “to allow the entire French community to return to France” and “no additional special flights will be chartered,” the French embassy in Afghanistan said, urging “officially all the French to take this special flight or leave the country immediately by their own means.”

The embassy informs the French who intend “to stay in Afghanistan after July 17 that it will no longer be able to guarantee the security of their departure.”

In a speech posted Tuesday night on the embassy website, on the eve of the national holiday of July 14, French Ambassador David Martinon clarified that the Afghan embassy staff, those of the French Institute and the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan as well as the Franco-Afgan NGO Afrane have left for France in recent weeks as part of their right to asylum.

The ambassador clarified that “the embassy team is at work”, implicitly ruling out the closure of the diplomatic mission at the moment: “We will continue our duty, maintaining, today more than ever, our support for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan”.

The foreign forces, present in Afghanistan for the past 20 years as part of the US-led international coalition under NATO, commenced their final withdrawal in early May, which is expected to be completed by the end of August.

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