The Taliban entered Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan on Sunday after capturing most of the major cities and provinces of Afghanistan. They did it right after the US embassy used a helicopter to evacuate its diplomats from Kabul. The senior officer present there did not divulge a lot of information. He just said that the Taliban had surrounded Kabul from all sides and were planning to capture it as soon as possible.
There was a tweet from the account of the Afghan Presidential palace. It said that the noise of firing ammunition had been heard quite a few times around Kabul. But it also ensured that the city’s security forces had joined hands with the international partners and still had everything under control.
What the US officials had to say about the Taliban
On being asked, the US officials said that the diplomats were being taken to the airport. They had somehow been rescued from the embassy which was in the fortified district of Wazir Akbar Khan. America was sending more people from the army to help with the evacuations. Everything had to be carried out fast because the Taliban did not waste any time and brought the Islamist group to Kabul in just a few days. When asked last week, the US intelligence had said that Kabul could hold its barriers for about three weeks. No one had expected the lightning advances of the Taliban.
The “core” US team members were working from the Kabul airport. A US official confirmed it. On the other hand, a NATO official said that many of the EU staff have been moved to a safer location in the capital itself. However, no one disclosed the location. The Taliban were very sly. One of them said that the group did not want any casualties but not once declared the firing to stop.
The announcement of Afghanistan president
On asking the president to say something, he said that since Saturday, he was in urgent consultations with both the local leaders and international partners on the current disastrous situation. There was nothing he could do about it unless help from the international partners came his way.
Seizure of Jalalabad and its provinces
The Taliban captured the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight. It gave them control over one of the main highways in Afghanistan. They also took over the Torkham border post with Pakistan.
Just after this, the Taliban seized the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. It was easier because the security forces escaped up the highway to Uzbekistan instead of fighting the Taliban. Two influential military leaders who were supporting the government also fled the scene. Their names were Atta Mohammad Noor and Abdul Rashid Dostum. Noor commented that the Taliban got the Balkh province due to a ‘conspiracy’.
A Jalalabad-based officer said, “There are no clashes taking place right now in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban. Allowing passage to the Taliban was the only way to save civilian lives.” The chances of the Taliban campaign shot up as the Afghan’s military defences appeared to collapse.
