Taliban enter Kabul say they are awaiting peaceful transfer of Afghan capital
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Taliban fighters entered Kabul on Sunday and sought the unconditional surrender of the central government, officials said, as Afghans and foreigners alike raced for the exit, signalling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan.
The beleaguered central government meanwhile sought an interim administration, but increasingly had few cards to play. Civilians fearing that the Taliban could reimpose a brutal rule that all but eliminated women's rights rushed to leave the country, lining up at cash machines to withdraw their life savings.
Helicopters buzzed overhead as part of an evacuation of personnel from the U.S. Embassy. Several other Western missions were also preparing to get staff out.
In a stunning rout, the Taliban seized nearly all of Afghanistan in over a week, despite the hundreds of billions of dollars spent by the U.S. and NATO over nearly two decades to build up Afghan security forces. Just days earlier, an American military assessment estimated it would be a month before the capital would come under insurgent pressure.
The Taliban has defeated, co-opted or sent Afghan security forces fleeing from wide swaths of the country, even though they had some air support from the U.S. military.
On Sunday, they entered the outskirts of Kabul but apparently remained outside of the city's downtown. Sporadic gunfire echoed at times though the streets were largely quiet.
Workers fled government offices, and smoke rose over the city as embassy staff burned important documents.
Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen told Qatar's Al-Jazeera English satellite news channel that the insurgents are "awaiting a peaceful transfer of Kabul city." He declined to offer specifics on any possible negotiations between his forces and the government.
But when pressed on what kind of agreement the Taliban wanted, Shaheen acknowledged that they were seeking an unconditional surrender by the central government.
We watch in complete shock as Taliban takes control of Afghanistan. I am deeply worried about women, minorities and human rights advocates. Global, regional and local powers must call for an immediate ceasefire, provide urgent humanitarian aid and protect refugees and civilians.
—@Malala Negotiations between Taliban, governmentNegotiators with the Taliban and the Afghan government were expected to hold talks on Sunday, though it wasn't immediately clear where they would be meeting.
An Afghan official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said Taliban negotiators were heading to the presidential palace to discuss the transfer of power. It remained unclear when that transfer would take place.
The negotiators on the government side included former president Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, an official said. Abdullah long has been a vocal critic of President Ashraf Ghani, who long refused giving up power to get a deal with the Taliban.
The president appeared increasingly isolated. Warlords he negotiated with just days earlier have surrendered to the Taliban or fled, leaving him without a military option.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the closed-doors negotiations, described them as "tense."
Meanwhile, Fawzi Koofi, a member of the Kabul negotiating team, told Reuters that a government delegation, including Abdullah, will travel to the Gulf state of Qatar on Sunday to meet with representatives of the Taliban.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters the Afghan delegation and Taliban representatives would discuss a transition of power, adding that U.S. officials would also be involved.
Acting Defence Minister Bismillah Khan sought to reassure the public that Kabul would remain "secure." The insurgents also tried to calm residents of the capital, insisting their fighters wouldn't enter people's homes or interfere with businesses. They also said they'd offer an "amnesty" to those who worked with the Afghan government or foreign forces.
"No one's life, property and dignity will be harmed and the lives of the citizens of Kabul will not be at risk," the insurgents said in a statement. But they also warned no one to enter the area around the capital.
U.S. Embassy being evacuatedDespite the pledges, panic set in as many rushed to leave the country through the Kabul airport, the last route out of the country as the Taliban now hold every border crossing.
One young woman who lives in Herat province expressed despair at the prospect of a Taliban government.
"Having devoted my life to the fight for the rights of women, it is very difficult to accept that all my efforts will be buried under the ground," said the 25-year-old who works for a non-governmental organization. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety.
Rapid shuttle flights of helicopters near the U.S. Embassy began a few hours after the militants seized the nearby city of Jalalabad â€" which had been the last major city besides the capital not in Taliban hands.
A U.S. military helicopter flies above the U.S. Embassy in Kabul on Sunday. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images) The U.S. decided a few days ago to send in thousands of troops to help evacuate some personnel, and two officials said Sunday that American diplomats were being moved from the embassy to the airport. Military helicopters shuttled between the embassy compound and the airport, where a core presence will remain for as long as possible given security conditions.
The officials were not authorized to discuss diplomatic movements and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, wisps of smoke could be seen near the embassy's roof as diplomats urgently destroyed sensitive documents, according to two American military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation.
The smoke grew heavier over time in the area, home to other nations' embassies as well.
Jalalabad falls to TalibanNATO, meanwhile, said it was "helping to maintain operations at Kabul airport to keep Afghanistan connected with the world."
Low-cost carrier FlyDubai said it would temporarily suspend flights to Kabul. It turned around a flight to the capital Sunday, as did Emirates. Emirates said an "unforeseen temporary closure of the runway" stopped it from landing.
Earlier in the day, militants posted photos online showing them in the governor's office in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province.
Abrarullah Murad, a lawmaker from the province told The Associated Press that the insurgents seized the city after elders negotiated the fall of the government there. Murad said there was no fighting as the city surrendered.
Pakistani soldiers check documents of stranded Afghan nationals returning to Afghanistan at a Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman on Saturday. The Taliban now control all border crossings in the country. (AFP via Getty Images) The militants also took Maidan Shar, the capital of Maidan Wardak, on Sunday, Afghan lawmaker Hamida Akbari and the Taliban said. Another provincial capital in Khost also fell to the insurgents, said a provincial council member who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Afghan officials said the capitals of Kapisa and Parwan provinces also fell.
The militants also took the land border at Torkham, the last not in their control, on Sunday. Pakistan's Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told local broadcaster Geo TV that Pakistan halted cross-border traffic there after the militants seized it.
Later, Afghan forces at Bagram air base, home to a prison housing 5,000 inmates, surrendered to the Taliban, according to Bagram district chief Darwaish Raufi. The prison at the former U.S. base held both Taliban and Islamic State group fighters.
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