The closure of Canberra’s Afghan embassy is another blow to people on the brink of losing hope

‘I saw women shedding tears outside the Afghan embassy in Islamabad as they looked at the tricolour flag still flying high.’ Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

The Afghan embassy in Canberra has quietly closed its doors, lowering the country’s tricolour flag and dimming one of the last remaining lights of a fallen democracy.

The decision, by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, reportedly followed a request from the Taliban and has left members of Australia’s Afghan community on edge.