Canada is preparing to evacuate its citizens from war-torn Afghanistan through its military as the Taliban is worsening the situation in the Asian nation, a media report said on Thursday.
A number of Afghans, and their families, who worked for Ottawa are currently inside a Canadian compound hoping to be rescued along with Canadian citizens, Global News reported citing sources.
However, Ottawa has not met any decision yet on their fate but the government fears that their families will be executed by the Taliban.
Canada is now in the process of ripping out an evacuation process that includes disposing of classified items and evacuating staff, Global News added.
On Thursday, the US also announced that it will be sending more than three battalions - two Marine, one Army -- currently in the US Central Command area of responsibility within two days to Afghanistan to assist the evacuation of its staff from Kabul.
"3 infantry battalions to move to Kabul airport in the next 24-48 hours. That is roughly 3,000 troops," said Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby in a briefing.
The Taliban on Thursday night claimed that it took control of the country's second-largest city Kandahar after seizing the governor's office and other administrative buildings in the city. So far, the terror group has captured 12 provincial capitals in the country.
The Taliban is extensively fighting with the Afghan government forces in an attempt to seize key cities and grab power soon after the US forces started fleeing Afghanistan under a peace deal signed between the Taliban and Washington.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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