KABUL – Taliban, who are an inch closer to a complete military takeover ofAfghanistan, entered the country’s capital on Sunday, Afghan interiorministry official said.
The Taliban group ordered its fighters to refrain from violence, allow safepassage to anyone seeking to leave, and request women to head to protectedareas, reports quoting Taliban leader said. Fighters have arrived atKabul’s surrounding areas but have not yet entered the city, it added.
Taliban spokesperson while speaking with a foreign agency said “We do notwant to kill innocent, isolated Afghan citizens” but he negated anyceasefire.
On the other hand, a number of government buildings have got evacuated.There were also reports that several helicopters have been landed at thepresidential palace to evacuate President Ashraf Ghani and other top Afghanleaders.
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Meanwhile, NATO authorities said European Union embassy staffers and envoyshave been shifted to an undisclosed, safe location while a US officialconfirmed that an estimated 50 employees of the embassy are present inKabul, as the Taliban close in on the capital city.
Earlier, the Taliban took control of the key eastern Afghanistan city ofJalalabad without resistance, leaving the territory controlled by thecrumbling government to little more than the capital Kabul.
