KABUL: The Taliban has entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital today (Sunday) and said they were awaiting a peaceful transfer of the city after promising not to take it by force as the United States evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter.
According to the Associated Press, three Afghan officials said the fighters were in the districts of Kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman in the capital. Another senior official told Reuters the Taliban were coming in “from all sides” but gave no further details.
Reports from the Afghanistan media state that negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government are taking place inside the ARG Presidential Palace in Kabul, as Taliban fighters wait at Kabul’s gates for further instructions.
Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, is acting as the arbitrator in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan interior ministry reports state that Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar has reached Afghanistan from Doha. Baradar was leading negotiations of a Taliban delegation with envoys of various governments in Doha.
A tweet from the Afghan Presidential palace account said the firing had been heard at a number of points around Kabul but that security forces, in coordination with international partners, had control of the city.
US officials said the diplomats were being ferried to the airport from the embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district. More American troops were being sent to help in the evacuations after the Taliban’s lightning advances brought the Islamist group to Kabul in a matter of days.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Al-Jazeera 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. Shaheen said they were seeking an unconditional surrender by the central government.
For his part, Afghanistan’s Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said government will enter into talks with the Taliban for the peaceful transition of power.
In a video statement, Mirzakwal said, “As the Minister of Interior of Afghanistan, I ordered all security forces, special forces and other personnel to continue their duties in different places to ensure the security of the city. Our people should not worry. There is no security problem in the city at the moment.”
He underlined that Kabul remains under government control and that the Taliban would not attack the city, adding that the transition of power would also happen peacefully for a transitional government to be set up.
Taliban free prisoners
Shortly after arriving in Kabul, the Taliban freed hundreds of prisoners from Afghanistan’s largest prison, the Pul-e-Charkhi in Kabul.
BREAKING:
Pul-E-Charkhi, the biggest prison of Afghanistna was broken in near Kabul and prisoners were released.
pic.twitter.com/BPsAwlbqWc— Tajuden Soroush (@TajudenSoroush) August 15, 2021
Tajuden Soroush, a correspondent of Iran International, tweeted a video clip in which hundreds of prisoners can be seen walking away from the prison.
Taliban tells fighters to stand at Kabul’s gates
“Negotiations are underway to ensure that the transition process is completed safely and securely, without compromising the lives, property and honour of anyone, and without compromising the lives of Kabulis,” it said.
په کابل ښار کې د جګړې نه کولو په اړه د اسلامي امارت اعلامیه https://t.co/DZWnmSsMfd pic.twitter.com/AFkV9DlDkN
— Zabihullah (..ذبـــــیح الله م ) (@Zabehulah_M33) August 15, 2021
The Taliban spokesman tweeted, “The Islamic Emirate instructs all its forces to stand at the gates of Kabul, not to try to enter the city.” The insurgents also instructed citizens not to leave the country out of fear, adding that no harm would befall them.
Taliban capture Jalalabad
According to Reuters, the Taliban closed in on Kabul Sunday, with the insurgents taking over the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight. The fall of the last major city outside the capital secured for the insurgents the roads connecting Afghanistan to Pakistan, a western official said.
It followed the Taliban’s seizure of the major northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. “There are no clashes taking place right now in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban,” a Jalalabad-based Afghan official told Reuters.
Taliban fighters have swept through the country in recent weeks as US-led forces withdrew. The Taliban campaign accelerated to lightning speed in the last week, shocking Western countries as the Afghan military’s defences appeared to collapse.
