After the Afghan government officials fled, the Taliban took control of the presidential palace and announced that the war in Afghanistan was over.
According to news agencies, there was an atmosphere of rapid progress, fear and chaos in Kabul on Sunday, after which heavily armed militants finally took control of the empty presidential palace last night.
Meanwhile, Western countries were busy evacuating their citizens from Afghanistan, while hundreds of Afghans also arrived at Kabul airport to leave the country.
An online video Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar also declared victory.
"Now is the time to test and prove, now is the time to show that we can serve our nation and ensure a comfortable life and security," he said.
A spokesman for the Taliban's political office told Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera that the group did not want to be isolated and that the shape of Afghanistan's new government would be clear soon.
At the same time, Mohammad Naeem called for peaceful international relations and said, "Thank God the war in the country is over."
"We have achieved what we wanted to achieve, which is the freedom of our country and our people," the Taliban leader said.
He reiterated that we will not allow our land to be used against anyone and will not harm others.
It is believed that the militants entered the Afghan capital Kabul after conquering Jalalabad without any resistance, where talks were also held with the Afghan leader for a peaceful transfer of power.
A Taliban leader told Reuters that fighters from various provinces were reorganizing and would wait for foreign troops to leave the country before a new government structure could be formed.
The Taliban leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the militants had been instructed to allow the Afghan people to carry out their daily activities and not to do anything that would intimidate civilians.
"All I can say right now is that normal life will go much better," he added.
The Taliban began collecting weapons from civilians
Taliban fighters have begun collecting weapons from civilians in the Afghan capital because, according to a Taliban official, they no longer need them for their own protection. Taliban entered the TOLOnews compound in Kabul, checked the weapons of the security staff, collected govt-issued weapons, agreed to keep the compound safe. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/LhuMI7Z90u
"We can understand that people have weapons for their own protection, but they should be considered safe. We are not here to harm civilians," the official told Reuters.
A media company official tweeted that Taliban fighters came to his company and questioned the security team about the weapons.
Western countries intensify efforts to evacuate their citizens, Afghans
NATO allies, which withdrew their forces after the US president announced the withdrawal of troops by August 31, are now sending back military personnel to evacuate civilians.
Some complained that the United States was failing to quickly repatriate Afghans who had previously worked with the United States and NATO forces and were at risk of retaliation from the Taliban. Mullah Baradar to Taliban: “we have reached a victory that wasn’t expected…we should show humility in front of Allah…now it’s time of test — now it’s about how we serve and secure our people, and ensure their future/good life to best of ability”
pic.twitter.com/EP6R8B5dot
Sam Lerman, a former U.S. Air Force official, said "this is an incompetent killing."
Meanwhile, the US administration is facing strong criticism over the evacuation arrangements in the country.
A joint statement issued by the US Department of Defense and the State Department promised to expel thousands of Americans, local embassy staff and others, especially "at-risk Afghan citizens".
The statement did not provide further details, but said Afghan women in key positions, journalists and Afghan citizens working with Western governments and NGOs were among those at risk of being targeted by the Taliban.
The statement acknowledged that the United States was having difficulty repatriating these Afghans and assured that "we will look for other countries to repatriate some of these Afghans."
On the other hand, a spokesman for the US Department of State said that the evacuation of staff from the Kabul embassy has been completed.
"We can confirm that the safe evacuation of all diplomats has been completed. All embassy personnel are on the grounds of the Hamid Karzai International Airport, which has been secured by the US military," Ned Price said in a statement.
Taliban advance
It should be noted that the United States first launched attacks against the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001, which was the result of the 9/11 attacks. Kabul airport.
Evacuation.
Game over. pic.twitter.com/hvluHgr2Rg
However, to end the two-decade-long war, the United States negotiated a peace deal with the Taliban in February last year, which agreed to the withdrawal of foreign troops and the Afghan government's negotiations with the Taliban.
The ongoing fighting in Afghanistan has taken a dramatic turn since May this year, when the date for the withdrawal of US-led foreign troops from Afghanistan was announced and the withdrawal will be completed before the end of this month.
In view of this, the Taliban first seized important border areas and then proceeded to seize the provincial capitals with lightning speed.
A few days ago, a US report predicted that the Taliban could capture Kabul in 90 days, but with the Taliban's rapid advance, the capture of Kabul proved all estimates wrong.
