BREAKING: Afghan President Flees Capital As Taliban Take Over Kabul

• Ashraf Ghani later revealed in a Facebook post that he fled to avoid bloodshed.

Afghanistan’s Taliban entered the capital Kabul on Sunday and Western-backed President Ashraf Ghani left the country, with the insurgents saying they were seeking complete power.

Two officials from the militant Islamist group told Reuters there would be no transitional government following their lighting sweep across Afghanistan that led back to the capital two decades after the Taliban was overthrown by U.S.-led forces.

READ ALSO: BIDEN DEPLOYS 5,000 TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN AS EVACUATION CONTINUES

Taliban fighters entered the presidential palace and took control of it, two senior Taliban commanders in Kabul said. The Afghan government did not confirm this.

American diplomats were evacuated from their embassy by helicopter to the airport as local Afghan forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others for billions of dollars, melted away.

Ghani’s destination was uncertain: a senior Interior Ministry official said he had left for Tajikistan, while a Foreign Ministry official said his location was unknown and the Taliban said it was checking his whereabouts.

Some local social media users branded him a “coward” for leaving them in chaos.

Taliban fighers reached Kabul “from all sides”, the senior Interior Ministry official told Reuters and there were some reports of sporadic gunfire around the city.

FILE PHOTO: Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani speaks during his inauguration as president, in Kabul, Afghanistan March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail//File Photo

A Kabul hospital said more than 40 people wounded in clashes on the outskirts were being treated, but there did not appear to be major fighting.

It was not clear yet how power would be transferred.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: US TROOPS ARRIVE IN KABUL AHEAD OF PERSONNEL EVACUATION

The Taliban said it was waiting for the Western-backed government to surrender peacefully.

“Taliban fighters are to be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed,” said spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

The government’s acting interior minister, Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal, said power would be handed over to a transitional administration.

---

Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:

Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.

Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.

Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611