Saudi Arabia, UAE evacuate their diplomats from Afghanistan
The United Arab Emirates has evacuated its diplomats from Afghanistan, the foreign ministry said in a statement to Reuters on Monday.
The move follows that of close ally Saudi Arabia, which announced on Sunday it evacuated all members of its diplomatic mission in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
The decision by the Saudi foreign ministry was made due to the current "unstable situation" in Afghanistan, a report by the Saudi Press Agency said, as foreign nations scrambled to evacuate personnel from the fallen capital Kabul.
On Sunday, the UAE said it was working on facilitating the evacuation of foreign diplomatic staff from Afghanistan through airports in the Gulf Arab state.
That included diplomatic staff from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Egypt, Australia and the European Union it said in a statement.
The UAE is a major international air transit hub.
Meanwhile, UAE airline flydubai said it will suspend flights to Kabul from Monday, after the Taliban entered the city, a report by Reuters said.
A return flight from Kabul to Dubai would operate on Sunday after which services would be suspended until further notice, the reported added, citing an airline spokesperson.