US Embassy in Afghanistan Closes After Attacks

US Embassy in Afghanistan Closes After Attacks
Afghanistan's National Army soldiers guard, blocking the main road to the Bagram Airfield's main gate in Bagram, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016. An explosion at a U.S. airfield in Afghanistan early Saturday killed four people, the head of international forces in the country said. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini)
The Associated Press
11/13/2016
Updated:
11/13/2016

KABUL, Afghanistan—The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan has closed following deadly insurgent attacks on a German Consulate and an American military base.

In a statement late Saturday, the embassy says it will be “closed for routine services” Sunday “as a temporary precautionary measure.”

The unusual decision comes after four Americans—two soldiers and two contractors—were killed in a suicide attack Saturday on the Bagram Airfield near the capital, Kabul.

Two days earlier, insurgents attacked the German Consulate in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing six people and wounding more than 100.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul regularly warns Americans against travel to Afghanistan, where a Taliban-led insurgency is in its 16th year.

The insurgency has become more virulent since most international combat troops withdrew in 2014.