Terror group Taliban entered Afghanistan capital, Kabul on Sunday. The move comes following President Ashraf Ghani’s departure to Tajikistan.
According to Reuters, a representative of the Taliban said the group was checking on Ghani’s whereabouts. There were no instances of fighting and Taliban’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters that Taliban fighters were on a “standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed.”
Representatives from the two sides were due to meet in Qatar on Sunday, Fawzi Koofi, a member of the Kabul negotiating team, told Reuters.
Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal, the acting interior minister said in a tweet that “There won’t be an attack on the city, it is agreed that there will be a peaceful handover.”
Another Taliban spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen said that the “Taliban would protect the rights of women, as well as freedoms for media workers and diplomats.”
In a statement to BBC, he said “We assure the people, particularly in the city of Kabul, that their properties, their lives are safe.”
As reported by Reuters, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Washington that the embassy was being moved to the airport and has a list of people to get out of harm’s way.
Earlier Sunday, the Taliban captured the eastern city of Jalalabad without any fight. Jalalabad was surrendered to the insurgent group by officials “casualties and destruction”.
The fall of Jalalabad also gave them access to the road leading to Pakistan’s Peshawar which was one of the escape routes for officials and civilians.
