Embassy of the United States, Kabul | |
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Native name Persian: سفارت ایالات متحده آمریکا در کابل |
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Chancery Building as seen from its plaza
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Location | Kabul, Afghanistan |
Coordinates | 34°32′05″N 69°11′24″E / 34.534722°N 69.19°ECoordinates: 34°32′05″N 69°11′24″E / 34.534722°N 69.19°E |
Opened | 2006 |
Ambassador | P. Michael McKinley (since December 9, 2014) |
The Embassy of the United States of America in Kabul is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The embassy complex is located on Great Massoud Road in the Wazir Akbar Khan section of the Afghan capital, Kabul, and is home to the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. The Embassies of Finland and South Korea are located behind this complex and the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is located across the street.
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul was elevated in May 1948 from the U.S. Kabul Legation. Louis Goethe Dreyfus, who previously served as Minister Plenipotentiary from 1940 to 1942, became the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from 1949 to 1951. It was closed in 1989, before the start of the long civil war followed by the Taliban takeover. The embassy re-opened after the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 and was under construction until early 2006, when U.S. President George W. Bush along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai held an inauguration ceremony. The U.S. State Department is spending another $500 million to further expand its premises, which was scheduled to be completed in 2014. However, the U.S. State Department extended the completion date to July 2016.