Its chancery on Great Massoud Road in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of the Afghan capital of Kabul was built at a cost of nearly $800 million.

[1] On August 15, 2021, in the face of a Taliban advance on Kabul, embassy staff moved to makeshift facilities at Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The embassy lacked a Senate-confirmed ambassador at the time of the Taliban takeover; the final head of the mission in Afghanistan was Chargé d'Affaires Ross Wilson.

Heavily armed Taliban insurgents wearing suicide vests struck various buildings in Kabul on 13 September 2011, and at least 7 people were killed and 19 wounded.

[9][10] The United States blamed the Pakistani Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy network for the attack.

He added: "No one is underestimating the seriousness of the attacks, and we'll work hard to determine the circumstances that led to today's events.

Additionally, some would aid in guarding Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, considered a "critical requirement to keeping any U.S. diplomatic staff in Afghanistan."

Airport security was initially to be delegated to Turkey post-withdrawal, before the rapid Taliban offensive saw Kabul threatened within days.

3,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines were temporarily deployed to Kabul to evacuate an unspecified number of the 4,000 embassy staff, 1,400 of whom were U.S. citizens.

[28] Embassy staff were ordered to destroy classified documents, electronics, and equipment, as well as American flags that could be "misused" for propaganda purposes.

Citing unnamed officials, POLITICO reported that the Defense Department was preparing for a full evacuation and closure of the embassy and that USCENTCOM saw such an event as "inevitable.

"[29] On August 14, soldiers and Marines already in Kabul enhanced security of Hamid Karzai International Airport for use by evacuating diplomatic staff and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) Afghan embassy workers and translators.

Individuals leveraged connections with Congresspeople and then State and Defense Department officials to help evacuees, seeing the formal process as too bureaucratic and slow.

[32] The embassy's consular section also began soliciting information from non-diplomatic Americans citizens seeking evacuation from Afghanistan.

[33] By early August 15, Taliban forces surrounded Kabul and sent unarmed fighters to negotiate a "peaceful transfer of power.

"[34][35] Taliban spokesmen claimed to be in ongoing negotiations with the Afghan government and said their fighters had been ordered not to enter the city.

[36] On the same day, according to the BBC, Chargé d'Affaires Ross Wilson "fled the embassy" for heavily secure Hamid Karzai Airport.

[37] Military helicopters made repeat trips to ferry all U.S. diplomats and officials from the embassy to the airport, firing flares to deter midair Taliban rocket attacks.

Approximately 10 minutes later, Taliban fighters entered the city and occupied police districts to "prevent looting" and "maintain order" after Islamic Republic of Afghanistan forces fled; thus, Kabul fell without a fight.

[38][34][33][42][43][44][45][46][excessive citations] On July 8, before the Taliban had taken any provincial capitals, President Biden stated that "there's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy [like in Saigon]...[the situations are] not at all comparable.

"[47] On August 13, before Taliban forces had surrounded Kabul, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell characterized Biden's actions as leaving the U.S. "hurtling toward an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon.

On August 15, Secretary of State Antony Blinken explicitly rejected the comparison to ABC News and CNN, saying "this is not Saigon."

[50][51] On August 15, Blinken stated that the embassy had been moved to Hamid Karzai International Airport, under guard by U.S., NATO, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and private Afghan security contractor forces.

The heavy U.S. troops reportedly was partially to deter mutiny by Afghan contractors not yet assured safe passage out of the country.

Chargé d'Affaires Ross Wilson and a core diplomatic team are expected to remain at Hamid Karzai Airport for an unknown length of time.

[49][52] Reports later that day state the U.S. began prioritizing the evacuation of Americans over Special Immigrant Visa Afghans.

Taliban forces in captured AFVs attempted to push back surging crowds and keep order.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated "by and large...people have been able to get to the airport," although he conceded the U.S. was in talks with the Taliban about instances of evacuees being "turned away or pushed back or even beaten.

[72] On November 12, 2021, the U.S. announced that an interests section would open at the Embassy of Qatar in Kabul on December 31, to serve as the protecting power for the U.S. in Afghanistan.

[74] As of August 2022, one year after the fall of Kabul, the embassy compound is said to be in a state of lockdown and is not currently used by any person or entity.