Biden State Dept. official deletes tweet warning Afghan women 'stand to lose everything' as Taliban surges

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A senior Biden administration State Department official quickly deleted a tweet she posted warning that Afghan women "stand to lose everything" as the Taliban surges toward Kabul.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Molly Montgomery posted a tweet early Friday morning as the Taliban continues to gain territory and power amid the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"Woke up with a heavy heart, thinking about all the Afghan women and girls I worked with during my time in Kabul," Montgomery wrote. "They were the beneficiaries of many of the gains we made, and now they stand to lose everything."

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"We empowered them to lead, and now we are powerless to protect them," the senior state department official wrote.

Montgomery deleted the tweet soon after posting it. A spokesperson for the State Department told Fox News in a Friday email statement that Montgomery "deleted the tweet on her own volition."

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Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan on Friday seized Kandahar and Herat, the country’s second- and third-largest cities, hours after Fox News confirmed that the U.S. military will help evacuate Americans from the embassy in Kabul.

The insurgents have taken more than a dozen provincial capitals in recent days and now control more than two-thirds of the country just weeks before the U.S. plans to withdraw its last troops.

Thousands of Afghans have fled their homes amid fears the Taliban will again impose a brutal, repressive government, all but eliminating women's rights and conducting public executions.

Lucas Tomlinson, Edmund DeMarche and the Associated Press contributed reporting.