Video posted by a US contractor in Kabul shows destroyed computers left behind in overflowing bins behind a building used by NATO as Taliban fighters took over the Afghan capital.
“So this area is known as Circuit City,” the soldier filming the rows of discarded computer parts says, adding that the scene was right outside the main headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force mission.
ISAF was a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations in 2001 to train local forces and assist in rebuilding government institutions.
The force, now called Resolute Support Mission, began withdrawing troops in May amid the threat of the resurgent Taliban, but some have remained in place to handle evacuations from Kabul, according to reports cited by Storyful.
NATO said it was maintaining its diplomatic presence in Kabul and helping to keep the international airport running.
“NATO is helping keep Kabul airport open to facilitate and coordinate evacuations,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Twitter.
On Sunday, a NATO official told Reuters that the alliance “is constantly assessing developments in Afghanistan.”
The official added that the security of the alliance’s personnel was paramount and that NATO would continue to adjust as necessary.
Images of the destroyed hardware emerged after staffers at the US Embassy in Kabul were instructed to get rid of all sensitive information before their evacuation.
A memo circulated among embassy staffers last week told them to destroy documents and desktop computers, National Public Radio said.
