Here are some current visuals and reports from the Afghanistan crisis after Taliban took over the capital city – Kabul.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left the presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed as the insurgent Taliban fighters had toppled his government in a matter of weeks. He left the country without saying where he was going. Al Jazeera reported later he had flown to Uzbekistan.
Taliban insurgents made rapid advances across Afghanistan in recent months as U.S. and other foreign forces withdrew, and on Sunday they entered Kabul.
Kabul’s streets were deserted early on Monday, a day after Taliban insurgents took over the Afghanistan capital without a fight, but the airport was jammed with hundreds of civilians trying to flee.
Hundreds of people pushed and pulled to board an airplane carrying passengers out of the country. Disturbing visuals from Afghanistan as the Taliban takes control of Kabul.
As chaos filled the Kabul airport on Monday, U.S. forces fired in the air to prevent hundreds of civilians running onto the tarmac, a U.S. official said.
Five people were killed in chaos at Kabul airport on Monday, witnesses said, as U.S. troops guarded the evacuation of embassy staff a day after the Taliban seized the Afghan capital and declared the war was over and peace prevailed.
More than 60 countries issued a joint statement saying Afghans and international citizens who want to leave Afghanistan must be allowed to depart and added that airports and border crossings must remain open, the U.S. State Department said late on Sunday.
In early July, as Taliban insurgents were seizing territory from government forces across Afghanistan, fighters from the group walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave. Thus making the future of women in Afghanistan look worrisome.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday urged the Taliban and all other parties to exercise the utmost restraint in order to protect lives and expressed particular concern about the future of women and girls in Afghanistan.
The Britain’s defence minister on Monday said, the Taliban are in control of Afghanistan and British and NATO forces will not be returning to fight the insurgents.
Today’s desperate scenes at Kabul airport clearly shows people are worried about their safety after the Taliban takeover. “We are afraid to live in this city,” a 25-year-old ex-soldier told news agency AFP as he stood among huge crowds on the tarmac. “Since I served in the army, the Taliban would definitely target me.”
Also read: Taliban Soon To Declare The ‘Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan’ From The Presidential Palace In Kabul
Also read: “I Left To Avoid Bloodshed,” Ashraf Ghani Posted After Leaving Afghanistan
Images Credits: Reuters
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