Photo of the Chinese national flag waving in front of building of the Chinese embassy in Afghanistan. Photo: Wang Yu, Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan

 The Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan is operating as normal, and the Taliban has pledged to guarantee its safety, the Chinese ambassador to Afghanistan told the Global Times, who sent a photo of Chinese national flag waving in front of the embassy building.

Ambassador Wang Yu told the Global Times on Tuesday that according to his knowledge, the embassies of Russia, Pakistan and Iran are also operating. Embassy staffers of Western countries have been transferred to the airport, which is controlled by the US military.

The ambassador said that there are only embassy employees as diplomats' families have not accompanied them to Afghanistan for years. 

Wang said the embassy is connected with the outside world, although the network signal is less stable now, and power has been blacked out occasionally. He said they could hear frequent gunshots on Monday. 

There are a few Chinese nationals remaining in Afghanistan, the ambassador said, noting that some of them hope the embassy can help them return to China as soon as possible. As commercial flights have been suspended, they may have to wait until flights resume, Wang said.

He sent Global Times a photo of the Chinese national flag waving in front of the embassy building.

The Afghan Taliban has swept through the country in a matter of a week and took control of the presidential palace as US-led forces withdrew. Video on social media shows helicopters and transport planes scrambling to evacuate mainly US and Western nationals. 

At the beginning of July, the Chinese government evacuated 210 Chinese nationals from Afghanistan on a charter flight to Wuhan amid the deteriorating security situation.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the Taliban pledged safety to foreign citizens and diplomatic missions in Kabul.

Global Times