AFGHANISTAN: On August 15 afternoon, Taliban fighters took over the Presidential Palace in the Afghan capital Kabul without facing any resistance.
Just a few hours earlier, the group announced that it “Mujahedeen” will enter certain parts of Kabul to “prevent chaos and theft” and take over a number of outposts which were abandoned by government forces.
Taliban fighters are now reportedly releasing their comrades from the prisons of the National Directorate of Security in Kabul.
Earlier, the Taliban claimed that it was not planning to take over the capital by force. However, the group changed its plans following the resignation of President Ashraf Ghani, who has since fled the country.
The situation in Kabul remains unstable, so do in the city’s airport where thousands of US troops are struggling to evacuate American diplomats and citizens.
According to a number of sources, US Ambassador Ross Wilson has fled Kabul city to the airport taking with him the US flag which was flown over the embassy.
The US embassy, which is now operating out of Kabul Airport, said that the security situation at the airport in the Afghan capital was changing quickly, and that there were reports of gunfire as US troops aided the evacuation of American personnel.
“There are reports of the airport taking fire; therefore we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place,” the embassy said in a security alert.
The Taliban is now in control of most of Kabul. The group’s fighters are present near the airport. Any attack by the group on the airport will not likely end in favor of US forces. The group could decide to overrun the airport to take hostages in the upcoming few hours.
The Taliban’s decisions are getting more radical by the hour. After reports of a plan to form an interim government, the group is now saying that it will soon declare the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” from the presidential palace in Kabul.
