Taliban entered Kabul to 'prevent looting' as cops flee, says spokesperson
The Taliban later said they were seeking complete power and there would be no transitional government following their lightning sweep across Afghanistan
Hours after Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani left the country, the Taliban ordered their fighters on Sunday to enter capital Kabul to “prevent looting” after local police deserted their posts. The militant group's spokesperson Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the troops would prevent looting amid the panic that prevailed following the Islamic militant outfit’s takeover of the capital.
Earlier, Mujahid had said, “Taliban fighters are to be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed," said spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
The insurgents later said they were seeking complete power and there would be no transitional government following their lightning sweep across Afghanistan that led back to the capital two decades after the Taliban was overthrown by US-led forces.
Taliban fighters entered the presidential palace and took control of it, two senior Taliban commanders in Kabul said. The Afghan government did not confirm this.
American diplomats were evacuated from their embassy by helicopter to the airport as local Afghan forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others for billions of dollars, melted away.
Ghani's destination was uncertain: a senior Interior Ministry official said he had left for Tajikistan, while a Foreign Ministry official said his location was unknown and the Taliban said it was checking his whereabouts. Some local social media users branded him a "coward" for leaving them in chaos.
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Taliban fighters reached Kabul "from all sides", the senior Interior Ministry official told Reuters and there were some reports of sporadic gunfire around the city.
A Kabul hospital said more than 40 people wounded in clashes on the outskirts were being treated, but there did not appear to be major fighting. It was not clear yet how power would be transferred.
The Taliban said it was waiting for the Western-backed government to surrender peacefully.
The government's acting interior minister, Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal, said power would be handed over to a transitional administration.
"There won't be an attack on the city, it is agreed that there will be a peaceful handover," he tweeted.