British nationals told to get out of Afghanistan as Taliban advances

All Brits have been urged to ‘leave now’ as violence escalates (Picture: Getty/EPA)

The UK Government has told all of its nationals to get out of Afghanistan amid worsening chaos and violence in the country.

The Foreign Office updated its guidance on Friday to advise against all travel to the Asian nation because of the ‘worsening security situation’.

It comes as the Taliban sweeps across the country and the UN warned that the situation was at a ‘dangerous turning point’.

The Foreign Office website reads: ‘All British nationals in Afghanistan are advised to leave now by commercial means. If you are still in Afghanistan, you are advised to leave now by commercial means because of the worsening security situation.

‘The level of consular assistance the British Embassy can provide in Afghanistan is extremely limited, including in a crisis. Do not rely on the FCDO being able to evacuate you from Afghanistan in an emergency.

‘In arranging your departure from Afghanistan, ensure your travel documents are up to date and that you have the necessary visas for onward travel.’

It added: ‘Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. Specific methods of attack are evolving and increasing in sophistication.

An Afghan security personnel gestures as he stands guard near where a car bomb exploded in Kabul earlier this week (Picture: AFP)

‘You should note an overall increased threat to Western interests in Kabul. Follow the instructions of local authorities. There is a high threat of kidnapping throughout the country.’

Afghanistan was already on the Government’s travel red list as a result of the country’s coronavirus situation, but fighting has intensified in recent days.

On Friday, the Taliban killed the director of Afghanistan’s government media centre in the capital Kabul, just days after an assassination attempt on the country’s acting defence minister.

The Taliban have been waging fierce battles for months across Afghanistan, laying siege to provincial capitals in the south and west of the country after capturing district after district and seizing several key border crossings.

In southern Nimroz province, Zaranj appeared to be the first provincial capital to fall to the group, though the government claimed there was still fierce fighting around key infrastructure in the city.

There is a threat of bombings and kidnaps (Picture: AFP)

An Afghan security officials patrols in a skull mask (Credits: EPA)

Earlier this week, a Taliban bombing attack targeted Afghanistan’s acting defence minister, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi.

The attack in a heavily guarded upmarket Kabul neighbourhood late on Tuesday killed at least eight people and wounded 20 – though the minister was unharmed.

The bombing was followed by a gun battle that also killed four Taliban fighters. The militants said the attack was to avenge Taliban fighters killed during government offensives in rural provinces.

Afghan and US aircraft pounded Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province on Friday, as the insurgents closed a major border crossing with neighbouring Pakistan.

Residents in Helmand’s contested provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, said airstrikes destroyed a market in the centre of the city – an area controlled by the Taliban. Afghan officials say the Taliban now control nine out of the 10 districts of the city.

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