Breaking: The Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan two decades after being ousted from Kabul by the United States
The Taliban have taken control of the Presidential Palace in Kabul after the President fled, signalling the collapse of the Western-backed government two decades after the United States invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
A pair of Taliban officials told Reuters that they expected a complete handover of power and that there would be no transitional government. Earlier, an Emirates passenger flight scheduled to land in Kabul turned back to Dubai without landing. Passengers outside the main terminal at Kabul airport. Thousands of people were trying to flee the Afghan capital as the Taliban took charge of the city.There were traffic jams and queues to withdraw bank savings, but the panic appeared to abate by late afternoon as the Taliban urged people to stay put, promising there would be no recriminations.
The collapse of the US-backed Ghani government was swift, with the Taliban reclaiming swathes of the country with lightning speed and with little or no fightback following US President Joe Biden’s withdrawal of troops in May. Within a week, four more key capitals had fallen – some in a single day – including the country’s second-most populous city Kandahar. By Sunday, the Taliban had encircled Kabul prompting chaos at the airport as many tried to flee.
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