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An Interior Ministry official said that Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday and the United States evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter.
The senior official told Reuters that the Taliban came in “from all directions,” but did not provide more details.
A tweet from the account of the Afghan Presidential Palace stated that fires were heard in multiple locations around Kabul, but the security forces coordinated with international partners to take control of the city.
US officials said that diplomats were being transported to the airport from the embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district. After the lightning advance of the Taliban brought the Islamic organization to Kabul within a few days, more American troops were sent to help with the evacuation.
Just last week, an estimate by the US intelligence agency stated that Kabul could hold on for at least three months.
A US official said that members of the “core” US team were working at Kabul Airport, while a NATO official said that several EU workers had moved to a safer, undisclosed location in the capital.
A Taliban official told Reuters that the organization does not want casualties because it is responsible but has not declared a ceasefire.
President Ashraf Ghani did not immediately release any information on the situation. He said on Saturday that he was in urgent consultations with local leaders and international partners on the situation.
Earlier on Sunday, the insurgents occupied the eastern city of Jalalabad without fighting, giving them control of one of the main highways to inland Afghanistan. They also took over the nearby Tolkham border post with Pakistan, making Kabul Airport the only way to leave Afghanistan but still in the hands of the government.
The occupation of Jalalabad was carried out after the Taliban occupied the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif late Saturday, and there was almost no fighting.
“There is currently no conflict in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban,” an Afghan official based in Lalabad told Reuters. “Allowing access to the Taliban is the only way to save civilian lives.”
A video clip distributed by the Taliban shows people cheering and a truck convoy leading soldiers into the city brandishing machine guns and white Taliban flags.
In a statement late on Saturday, the Taliban stated that its rapid progress showed that it had been generally accepted by the Afghan people and assured Afghans and foreigners that they would be safe.
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