Afghanistan in chaos: Taliban seizes capital [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The Taliban had already taken control of Kabul on Sunday.
• US and other western forces were scrambling to evacuate their citizens.
• Afghan president Ashraf Ghani had already flown out of the country.

The Taliban forces already took over Afghanistan’s capital on Sunday.

The swift and striking turn of events crushed the Afghan government following two decades of war alongside the US and NATO forces.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was forced to flee out of the country as the militants penetrated Kabul. Meanwhile, US troops were rushing to evacuate thousands of American diplomats and Afghans from its Embassy. Several Western rescues were also seen on the ground as they scattered to save their people.

The Pentagon deployed another 1,000 US troops on top of the 5,000 troops that were sent as announced by US President Joe Biden on Saturday, according to one anonymous US defense official. The military deployment aimed at ensuring an “orderly and safe” drawdown and pull out of US workers, and Afghans who worked with them.

One official told the Associated Press that the Taliban would soon be declaring the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the presidential palace. In video footage by Al-Jazeera, it was seen that Taliban fighters were already at the palace. A group of Taliban bearing their guns were sitting in a desk that appeared to be Ghani’s presidential desk.

In an issued joint statement Sunday night, the State and Defense departments said that the country was working to secure Kabul’s airport for departure purposes. They would also take over the air traffic control and deploy additional troops.

“Tomorrow and over the coming days, we will be transferring out of the country thousands of American citizens who have been resident in Afghanistan, as well as locally employed staff of the U.S. mission in Kabul and their families and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals.” the statement reads.

Some analysts said that the US invasion of Afghanistan was a failure.

Meanwhile, several media outlets reported that Ghani had already flown out of the country.

In a Facebook post Sunday, he explained why he had escaped: “Today, I came across a hard choice; I should stand to face the armed Taliban who wanted to enter the palace or leave the dear country that I dedicated my life to protecting and protecting the past twenty years. … The Taliban have made it to remove me, they are here to attack all Kabul and the people of Kabul. In order to avoid the bleeding flood, I thought it was best to get out.”

Several Afghan officials have criticized Ghani over his departure.

“The former president of Afghanistan left Afghanistan, leaving the country in this difficult situation,” Afghan National Reconciliation Council head Abdullah Abdullah said. “God should hold him accountable.”

The Taliban forces announced that they would not harm the Afghan residents, noting that they would give an “amnesty” to those who worked with the Afghan government or international groups.

Source: USA Today