BackAfghan crisis: Don't panic, say Taliban as they order fighters to enter Kabul
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says in order to prevent looting and chaos their forces will enter some parts of Kabul
PremiumAfghan crisis: Just hours after saying they won't take Kabul by force, Taliban on Sunday announced that their forces will enter some parts of the capital city of Afghanistan. “Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says in order to prevent looting and chaos their forces will enter some parts of Kabul, Afghanistan and occupy outposts that have been evacuated by security forces. He asks the people to not panic from their entrance into the city," news agency ANI quoted TOLO News as reporting.
This came soon after it was confirmed that Ashraf Ghani had resigned as President and left the country for Tajikistan. Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, confirmed Ghani had left in an online video. “He left Afghanistan in a hard time, God hold him accountable," Abdullah said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has informed that embassy staff in Kabul are leaving the facility and moving to the airport. US diplomats were being ferried by helicopters to the city's airport, where US troops are being flown in to provide security amid an exodus of Americans and their local allies and other foreigners in the face of the militants' lightening advance, Reuters reported.
Earlier in the day, Taliban instructed all its forces to stand at the gates of Kabul, not to try to enter the city. “Negotiations are under way to ensure that the transition process is completed safely and securely, without putting the lives, property and honor of anyone in danger," they said in a statement.
Afghanistan’s acting defense minister Bismillah Mohammadi said Ghani had extended authority to a delegation of at least three officials headed to Doha for talks with the Taliban on Monday. If Ghani has gone, he added, it’s unclear under whose authority the delegation would negotiate.
(With inputs from agencies)
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