‘Coward’: Afghan social media angry as Prez Ashraf Ghani flees amid chaos

Islamist extremist group Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday and have reportedly taken control of the Afghan presidential palace.

In the wake of complete unrest and panic in Afghanistan with the Taliban entering Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday fled the country after reportedly resigning from his post. News agency Reuters quoted a senior Interior Ministry official saying Ghani may have fled to Tajikistan.

A senior Interior Ministry official of the Afghan government said President Ashraf Ghani may have fled to Tajikistan.

A representative of the Taliban told Reuters the Islamist extremist group was checking on Ghani’s whereabouts, even while a few regional social media users termed the president a “coward” for leaving his fellow country people in chaos.

However, a foreign ministry official of Afghanistan said that it was not yet clear where did Ghani leave for.

While the Taliban urged government officials to stay, officials said Ghani had already left the country.

Taking to Twitter, the incumbent Afghanistan government’s acting minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal said that there won’t be any attack on the capital city of Kabul and that they have reached an agreement with the Taliban fighters about a “peaceful handover” of power. He also said that the handover will be given to a transitional administration.

However, two officials from the Islamist group informed Reuters that there would be no transitional government after the clean sweep across Afghanistan, 20 years after they were dethroned by the US-backed forces in the country.

The official further said there were some reports of sporadic gunfire around the city, though no significant fighting was observed and the Taliban said they were awaiting the US-led forces to “surrender peacefully.”

Meanwhile, the US shifted its embassy from the war-torn Wazir Akbar Khan district to the airport, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who added the country had a list of people to get out of harm's way. American diplomats were being evacuated from the embassy with the help of helicopters, while Russia maintained that there was no need for its embassy to be evacuated for the time being.

According to Reuters, Taliban have also taken over the presidential palace in Afghanistan, however, the Afghan government was yet to confirm this.

Some people have left their keys in the car and have started walking to the airport," one resident told Reuters. Another said, "People are all going home in fear of fighting."

Earlier in the day, India sent an Air India flight to Kabul to bring back trapped Indian diplomats and other citizens. The flight took off from Kabul at 6.06pm with 129 passengers on board. “We are monitoring the situation and as of now continuing with our scheduled flights to Kabul,” an Air India spokesperson said. The national airline is scheduled to send another flight to Kabul from Delhi tomorrow at 8am.