The Palace urged Filipinos in Afghanistan return to the country due to the worsening security situation after the Taliban entered the capital Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani left the country.

"First of all we are calling the Filipinos. We are already on Alert Level 4. We are now taking steps for your repatriation so you can coordinate with our embassy for your repatriation back in the Philippines," Presidential Spokesman Secretary Harry Roque said on Monday.

"We are calling those who have relatives in Afghanistan to encourage them to return to the Philippines to assure their security," he added.

Roque said there were a total of 170 Filipinos in Afghanistan, as of Sunday night a total of 32 Filipinos were evacuated to Doha who are waiting for their flight back to the Philippines.

He said a group of 19 Filipinos in Afghanistan are also set to be repatriated. Robina Asido/DMS