US President Joe Biden said Monday it was no longer the United States’ responsibility to fight in Afghanistan’s civil war, despite disturbing scenes of the Taliban taking control of the capital city of Kabul. Biden warned of swift retaliation if the Taliban attacked remaining U.S. personnel and Afghan allies as the nearly 20-year conflict comes to a close. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more from Washington.
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Shock, horror, sadness, anger. Fear. These are some of the emotions members of the U.S. Afghan community are expressing as they watch the fall of the government in Afghanistan over the past few days. VOA’s Julie Taboh reports.Camera: Saboor Bidar, Mike Burke, Nicholas Jastrzebski   Produced by: Michelle Quinn 
 
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With hundreds of Afghans rushing the tarmac of Kabul’s international airport desperate to flee the return of the Taliban, a young Afghan woman stood in limbo between two worlds.  In one world, Massouma Tajik would board a flight to a country she did not know, destined to become a refugee. In another, she would stay in an Afghanistan under Taliban rule, forced to wipe out the last 20 years of all that she had built and achieved.  Sleepless, hungry and scared, she has been waiting for hours at the airport for a flight she feared would never come with questions she could not answer.  “I am in the airport, waiting to get a flight but I don’t know to where,” she said, speaking to The Associated Press over the phone. “I am here, confused, hungry and hopeless. I don’t know what is coming my way. Where will I go? How will I spend my days? Who will support my family?”  Taliban fighters stand guard in front of the Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 16, 2021.Tajik, a 22-year-old data analyst working for a U.S. contractor helping Afghan businesses, had gotten the call Sunday afternoon, telling her she had 10 minutes to leave for the airport. She had been put on an evacuation list heading to the United States or Mexico — she was told nothing more. She did not have a visa in her passport.  She left a friend’s apartment in Kabul with the clothes on her back, a knapsack, laptop and her phone.  “My dreams and my plans are all inside this small backpack,” she said.  As the Taliban swept into Kabul on Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, Tajik and a group of Afghans working for U.S. media were rushed to the city’s international airport by their American friends.  The speed of the Afghan government’s collapse, the ensuing chaos and the near-complete takeover of the country has shocked many in Afghanistan and beyond. For Afghan women, it raised fears that all they had achieved in women’s rights, the right to go to school and work, would be swiftly taken away. On the way to the airport, Tajik looked out the window, taking in the last glimpses of Kabul streets, “filled with a scary silence.”  Leaving her familyThere was barely time to call her family in the western province of Herat, seized by the Taliban last week in the insurgents’ relentless sweep. Before the fall, Tajik had fled the city of Herat, the provincial capital and her hometown, for the Afghan capital, “with hope that Kabul would resist.” “But everything changed,” she said. “Everything collapsed in front of my eyes.”  Her family did not object to her leaving even though at 22, she was their breadwinner. That role brought her respect and pride — something the Taliban could take away. She also knew that by staying, she would become a liability for her loved ones — a young woman, educated at an international university and working with foreigners.  “When I left Herat, I thought I cannot leave my family like this, but staying there I become a risk for them,” she said. If the Taliban found out, she is convinced “they will hurt my family.”  Before leaving Herat, she destroyed all evidence linking her with international organizations, including newspaper clippings. Apart from working as a U.S. contractor, in July she was also featured in a prominent U.S. paper. “I burned them, I buried them, and I left,” she said. Hours spent waitingOnce at the airport, she saw Afghans waiting desperately for a plane out, some breaking into tears. She was tired, she had not slept in three days. Rumors circulated that the planes may even be canceled. Others asked why there was no security and who would protect them. “The Taliban can come at any time,” she said, her voice faltering.  Six hours passed. She heard shots ring out from the outside — was it the Taliban?  Hundreds of people run alongside a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane, some climbing on the plane, as it moves down a runway of the international airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug.16. 2021.From where she was, she could see a plane on the tarmac, but it wasn’t hers. A mad rush of men and women followed, people overtaking one another, desperate to get out. She watched and thought of the unknown that awaited her.  “I might end up on the other side of the world, in a refugee camp. I have no food, no money with me,” she said. And she missed her family.  “I am worried for their lives,” she said. “All these years of education and hard work, in the hope of making a better life and helping other Afghans ended up being for nothing.”  ‘No one deserves this’By midnight on Sunday, she thought of giving up and taking a taxi back to Kabul. Herat was out of the question. She got up, but just as quickly changed her mind.  Sleep would not come. She said looters were causing havoc inside the terminal. She left with her travel companions to wait outside on the runway.  At daybreak, thousands of Afghans had streamed into the airport. Tajik said she saw U.S. soldiers fire shots in the air. Her flight would be here soon, she was told.  Later on Monday, U.S. military officials said the chaos at the Kabul airport had left seven people dead, including some who fell from a departing American military transport jet. “I will never forgive the world for staying silent,” she said. “I didn’t deserve this. No one deserves this.” 
 
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European leaders said Monday they will press for a unified international approach to dealing with a Taliban government in Afghanistan, as they looked on with dismay at the rapid collapse of two decades of a U.S.-led Western campaign in the country. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke Monday to French President Emmanuel Macron, stressing the need for a common stand on recognizing any future Afghan government and preventing a humanitarian and refugee crisis.  FILE – Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at the Downing Street Briefing Room in London, July 5, 2021.Both leaders agreed to cooperate at the U.N. Security Council, and Johnson also said he will host a virtual meeting of the Group of Seven leaders on Afghanistan in the next few days. Johnson said on Sunday, “We don’t want anybody to bilaterally recognize the Taliban.”  German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman echoed that sentiment Monday, saying the question of whether there can be a dialogue with the Taliban needs to be discussed internationally.  “We do not have any illusions about the Taliban and the essence of their movement,” said spokesman Steffen Seibert. The French leader said in a speech to the nation Monday night that the fight against “Islamist terrorism in all its forms” would not end.  FILE – French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference at the Elysee Presidential Palace, in Paris, July 9, 2021.”Afghanistan cannot again become the sanctuary for terrorism that it was,” Macron said. He stressed that the U.N. Security Council is the forum for a coordinated response, and added, “We will do everything so that Russia, the United States and Europe can cooperate efficiently because our interests are the same.”  Macron also raised fears of uncontrolled migration to Europe by Afghans, saying that France, Germany and other European countries would work to swiftly develop a “robust, coordinated and united response.” FILE – Afghans flee fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces, on the outskirts of Herat, 640 kilometers (397 miles) west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 8, 2021.As far as the crisis inside Afghanistan, European leaders’ hands are tied in many ways: They have little leverage over the Taliban, and they are deeply reluctant to publicly criticize the withdrawal decision by the United States, their powerful NATO ally — or comment on their own role in the failed intervention.  NATO countries were left with little choice but to pull out the roughly 7,000 non-American forces in Afghanistan after President Joe Biden announced in April that he was ending the U.S. involvement in the war by September, 20 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.  Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of London’s Royal United Services Institute, said that Britain — which for much for the war contributed the second-largest number of troops to the mission — “was especially upset that the Biden administration didn’t consult it more fully about the decision to withdraw this summer.” “That is water under the bridge, but the fact that there wasn’t a coordinated alliance approach to the withdrawal makes it even more important now to coordinate a Western response — starting with the question of recognition” of a Taliban government, he said. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week that theFILE – European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a news conference in Brussels, May 10, 2021.Taliban “need to understand that they will not be recognized by the international community if they take the country by force.” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has also warned that the militant group would face “isolation” and “lack of international support.”  Borrell is expected to chair an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss Afghanistan on Tuesday, while NATO envoys will also hold talks.  Meanwhile, Russia’s envoy on Afghanistan said that Moscow will decide whether to recognize the new Taliban government based on its conduct. Chalmers said “Western influence on the Taliban is very limited” compared with that of Pakistan, Iran and China. And Kurt Volker, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, said that warning the Taliban that they face international isolation is a threat “unmoored from reality.” “It is part of the Taliban’s ideology to reject modernism and the international community — and the reputation won by forcing the U.S. to leave is worth far more than aid budgets,” he wrote for the Center for European Policy Analysis think tank.  “Indeed, having earned a reputation for abandoning its mission, its friends, and its allies, it is the United States that may actually feel more isolated,” Volker added. The U.K. has repeatedly alluded to how it had been put in a “very difficult position” to continue the mission once the United States announced its decision to pull out, and British leaders have spoken with a tone of resignation as the situation deteriorated rapidly after NATO’s exit.  “I think it’s fair to say that the U.S. decision to pull out has accelerated things, but this has been in many ways something that has been a chronicle of an event foretold,” Johnson said Sunday.  Other European allies have made veiled criticisms of NATO’s most powerful member country.  Taliban fighters stand guard in a vehicle along the roadside in Kabul on August 16, 2021.Asked Monday whether France and the U.S. were responsible for the collapse of the armed forces and the unfolding humanitarian crisis, Defense Minister Florence Parly said, “France hasn’t been in Afghanistan since 2014. There’s no parallel to make with the U.S. involvement.” Briefing reporters last week about the crisis in Afghanistan, a senior EU official said that “the decisions which were made in this respect were made in NATO.” He did not single out the alliance’s most influential member, but the criticism was implicit. Italian far-right leader Giorgia Meloni was much more direct, saying, “Let’s give a welcome back to the cynical Obama-Clinton-Biden doctrine: ‘If you can’t win, create chaos.'” Western governments have also appeared to be caught off guard by the stunning speed of the Taliban’s advance on Kabul. For months, European ambassadors at NATO and the EU have been unable to answer questions from reporters about what security arrangements might be in place in Afghanistan should the situation deteriorate. Questions about how to protect embassies and the Kabul airport, where chaos reigned Monday as scores sought to flee the country, were never unanswered. In the past few days, U.S., British and other Western governments have scrambled to evacuate their embassies, their citizens and Afghans who have helped with their military mission as the Taliban seized power.  “All of us, the government, the intelligence services, the international community, all of us misjudged the situation,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas admitted Monday. “Neither we nor our partners and experts did foresee the speed with which the Afghan security forces withdrew and capitulated.” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace choked up during an interview as he expressed deep regret that some of those people will be left behind.  “It’s sad, and the West has done what it’s done,” he acknowledged. “We have to do our very best to get people out and stand by our obligations and 20 years of sacrifice. … It is what it is.” 
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Men with Kalashnikovs roamed the streets of Kabul on foot, in security vehicles and on motorcycles Monday as the insurgents solidified their hold on Afghanistan’s capital.They seemed to have taken over the duties of Afghan police and security forces that were hardly visible anymore. Armed Taliban stood at the gates of the compound that led to the U.S. Embassy, now vacated. They also seemed to be standing guard outside the house of Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation.At checkpoints previously staffed by Afghan forces, men with long beards wearing shalwar kameez — the long tunic and loose pants that make the local dress — AK-47s dangling at their side, looked inside car windows and asked drivers where they were going, sometimes with a smile and a hand raised to their chest as a gesture of respect.Taliban fighters stand guard in a vehicle along the roadside in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021.On one road during a traffic jam, two Taliban got out of their vehicle to help break up a fight over a fender bender.Taliban leadership had announced that the group was only entering the city to keep the peace and prevent looting, as reports emerged that police and security forces were abandoning their posts.“The Islamic Emirate has ordered its mujahedeen and once again instructs them that no one is allowed to enter anyone’s house without permission,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter. “Life, property and honor of none shall be harmed but must be protected by the mujahedeen.”Still, many people told VOA they preferred to stay home until the situation became clearer. Almost all shops, offices and banks were closed on Monday. Traffic was light in a city famous for its traffic jams, except near the airport, where the VOA team witnessed scenes of mayhem.Thousands of people were gathered, and the crowds were often rushing forward and then running back when members of the Taliban, trying to control the perimeter of the airport, pushed them back with long batons. Sounds of sporadic gunfire erupted in the air.Afghans crowd near the tarmac of the Kabul airport on Aug. 16, 2021, as they try to flee the country.The rush at the airport and the strong push to get out was one indicator of people’s anxiety about life under the Taliban. Another was a change in the dress code. Most of the men were dressed in shalwar kameez. Hardly any wore jeans and T-shirts, a common sight a week ago.The other big change from a week ago was the presence of women. On a normal day in Kabul, one could see a significant number of women on the streets dressed in jeans, long tunics and headscarves and full burqas.Not now. The small group of women on the streets were fully covered in hijabs and wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus.While the Taliban promised there would be no violence against anyone, citizens of Kabul seemed to be treading cautiously, just in case.
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A day after the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban without a fight, foreign forces continue to protect and hold Kabul’s international airport, including thousands of American soldiers tasked with carrying out a hasty evacuation. A senior defense official confirmed to VOA Monday that Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, met with the Taliban in Qatar on Sunday, warning them that the U.S. military would use self-defense should the militant group try to interfere with the massive evacuation mission. Asked how many C-17 aircraft were being utilized to fly people out of Afghanistan, the official replied, “every one that’s available.” Some U.S. troops were delayed for hours from arriving in Kabul this morning due to civilians on a runway at Hamid Karzai International Airport. The airfield is now open and those forces have landed, according to defense officials.  The U.S. has approved 6,000 troops to assist with security and evacuations on the ground, more than double the number of American troops in Afghanistan when the withdrawal was announced in May. About half of those 6,000 troops are in country at this time, according to officials.Smoke rises next to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021.A joint statement from the Pentagon and the State Department issued Sunday said the U.S. “will be transferring out of the country thousands of American citizens who have been resident in Afghanistan, as well as locally employed staff of the U.S. mission in Kabul and their families and other particularly vulnerable Afghan nationals.”      It also said the U.S. is accelerating the evacuation of thousands of Afghans eligible for U.S. Special Immigrant Visas.      “For all categories, Afghans who have cleared security screening will continue to be transferred directly to the United States,” the joint Pentagon and State Department said. “And we will find additional locations for those yet to be screened.”      NATO on Sunday also began focusing its efforts on the airport, though it said it was also seeking to maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul. Meanwhile, concern is growing about what is to come for Afghan troops who defended their nation against the Taliban.  Afghan Col. Rahman Rahmani, a pilot currently studying in the U.S., said via Twitter that the Taliban was going door to door killing Afghan special operators and Afghan pilots.  He says his house was taken by “terrorists” and his mother and five siblings are trapped in the country.  I receive lots of messages to give interviews. I’m not in a state to give interviews. I am helping my friends to rescue their families. Terrorists took my house, I made from 18 yrs of savings. They r going door to door to kill SOFs & pilots. My mom & 5 siblings (4 sis) r trapped!— Col Rahman Rahmani (@rahmanrahmanee) August 15, 2021“The West left us with betrayal,” he said. VOA’s Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
 
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U.S. President Joe Biden will address the American public on the crisis in Afghanistan Monday, in his first public comments since the Taliban took full control of the South Asian country.
 
Biden will travel back to the White House from Camp David Monday – a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan as Taliban fighters reached the Afghan capital Kabul. He is set to speak at 3:45 EDT.
 
Biden has consistently defended his decision to pull all U.S. troops from the country by August 31.
 
“One more year, or five more years, of U.S. military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country,” Biden said in his statement on Saturday. “And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me.”
 
The Taliban intensified attacks since the start of May, when U.S. and NATO allies began pulling their last remaining troops from Afghanistan.  A Taliban offensive saw them capture provincial capitals and sweep through most of the country in a little more than a week, culminating with the collapse of the Afghan government.
 
The U.S. has retained control of the Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul, but chaos has ensued as thousands try to flee the country.
Biden was briefed Monday on the situation ahead of his remarks. “This morning, the President was briefed by his national security team, including the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman Milley, on the security situation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and ongoing efforts to safely evacuate American citizens, U.S. Embassy personnel and local staff, SIV applicants and their families, and other vulnerable Afghans,” the White House said.
 
Even as the Biden administration has defended its decision to leave Afghanistan, it has expressed shock at how quickly the country fell to the Taliban.
 
“It is certainly the case that the speed with which cities fell was much greater than anyone anticipated,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC’s Today show.
 
Several Republican lawmakers have sharply criticized the administration over the chaos in Afghanistan.  
 Some information in this report came from the Associated Press. 
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A day after Taliban fighters took up positions in Kabul, the Afghan capital’s international airport on Monday was frenetic with thousands of Afghans looking for a way out, U.S. soldiers firing warning shots as they sought to keep the area secure, and Western nations arranging the evacuation of their nationals and some of the local staff who worked for and aided them since the start of war 20 years ago. Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority announced the civilian side of the airport was “closed under further notice,” as videos on social media showed scenes of crowds running on the airport tarmac and jostling for space on a staircase leading up to a plane as people tried to board. Several airlines, including United, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Lufthansa said they would avoid flying in Afghan airspace, while Emirate and Pakistan International Airlines announced they were halting flights to Kabul. The airport is also the staging site for diplomats seeking flights out of Afghanistan after evacuating embassies in the capital. Italy, Saudi Arabia, France, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia and the Czech Republic are among the nations who have already flown out their personnel or announced plans Monday for those flights. A Taliban fighter mans a machinegun on top of a vehicle as they patrol along a street in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021.Taliban fighters were patrolling the streets of Kabul on Monday following the gains that saw them capture provincial capitals and sweep through most of the country in a little more than a week. FILE – Taliban political deputy Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, center, arrives with other members of the Taliban delegation for an Afghan peace conference in Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2021.Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder and deputy Taliban chief congratulated the people of Afghanistan and his “Mujahideen [holy warriors]” on their “mammoth gains” in a late Sunday statement. He delivered the Pashto language video message from his office in Doha, Qatar.      “I am here to announce that we are responsible for your lives and all that pertain to everyday living, and to convince you that we will provide everything to make your lives better to the strength that has been provided to us by the Almighty who has granted us such a big victory,” Baradar said.     Baradar’s office also released a video of him watching, along with his associates, live television coverage of Taliban fighters entering the presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday night.  The United Nations urged the Taliban to “exercise utmost restraint in order to protect lives” in a statement from the secretary-general Sunday night, adding that all humanitarian organizations must be allowed to provide assistance unimpeded.  
  
The secretary-general is to address the Security Council at an open meeting on Afghanistan Monday morning.    The United States and more than 60 other countries issued a statement late Sunday calling on all parties in Afghanistan to “respect and facilitate” the orderly departure of Afghans and foreign nationals who want to leave the country.    Taliban fighters take control of Afghan presidential palace after the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Zabi Karimi)“Those in positions of power and authority across Afghanistan bear responsibility—and accountability—for the protection of human life and property, and for the immediate restoration of security and civil order,” the statement said.  “Afghans and international citizens who wish to depart must be allowed to do so; roads, airports and border crossing must remain open, and calm must be maintained.”  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, along with his vice president and other senior officials, flew out of Afghanistan on Sunday.    Ghani issued a statement on Facebook later Sunday, saying he left the country to prevent bloodshed. He landed in Tajikistan then left soon after for an unknown destination, RFE/RL reported.    “Taliban have won the judgement of sword and guns and now they are responsible for protecting the countrymen’s honor, wealth and self-esteem,” he wrote. “They are now facing a new historical test; either they will protect the name and honor of Afghanistan, or they will prioritize other places and networks. … It is for Taliban to assure all the people, nations, different sectors, sisters and women of Afghanistan to win the legitimacy and the hearts of the people.”    Abdullah Abdullah, head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, posted a video on Facebook, criticizing Ghani.    1/3 Translaton of @DrabdullahCE’s message to Afghans: “I know you had a really bad day today and you spent a tough day. I ask you to stay calm. I ask National Security Forces to secure the city. https://t.co/SISwMottJW— Ayesha Tanzeem (@atanzeem) August 15, 2021“I feel the former president left the country and people in a bad position. God will make him accountable,” Abdullah said.  My message to the people of AFGHANISNAN, to the security forces and to the Taliban: https://t.co/MiFk0zaNRJ— Dr. Abdullah Abdullah (@DrabdullahCE) August 15, 2021Sunday morning, a Taliban delegation engaged prominent Afghan jihadi leaders, politicians and elders in negotiations that culminated in Ghani stepping down from office, said Taliban sources aware of the developments.  
  
The Taliban maintained in the talks that they would not engage with Ghani in any transfer of power, saying he was not “a legitimate” president, according to the sources.  
  
Under a deal reportedly reached, a delegation of Afghan leaders, including Abdullah, will travel to Qatar, where “the transfer of power to the Taliban” will formally take place. VOA contacted Taliban spokespersons for a confirmation but could not get a response immediately.  The speed of the Taliban offensive has shocked both locals and the international community. While violence in the country has been high since 2020, after the Taliban signed a deal with the United States, the latest campaign against Afghan cities has been unexpectedly fast.    Afghanistan Map – Taliban AdvancesThe Taliban gains started with the capital of Nimruz province August 6 and nine days later they had Kabul surrounded from all sides.  Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Taliban fighters patrolled the streets of Kabul on Monday, a day after the group swept into the Afghan capital and President Ashraf Ghani left the country. The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet to discuss the developments, while the United States and more than 60 other countries issued a statement calling on all parties in Afghanistan to allow any Afghans or foreign nationals to leave the country if they wish. The U.S. sent more troops to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport to help secure the evacuation of U.S. diplomats and Afghan allies. Other Western nations also worked Monday to get their personnel out of the country. Thousands of Afghan civilians have also massed at the airport, fearing a return to Taliban rule but facing a less clear exit path. Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority issued a statement Monday morning saying the civilian side of the airport was “closed until further notice.” Taliban officials sought to reassure people while celebrating their swift gains. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder and deputy Taliban chief said in a statement late Sunday, “I am here to announce that we are responsible for your lives and all that pertain to everyday living, and to convince you that we will provide everything to make your lives better.”  Some information for this report came from the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. 
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I woke up with a jolt.  Was it a blast? No, just nearby construction. Everyone had been on edge for days. The Taliban’s advances across the country had been much faster than anticipated.     Senior Western sources had said it would be a couple of days before the Taliban would arrive on the doorstep of Kabul.     “Try to get out by the 19th (of August),” they said. I booked a flight for the 17th.   More than for myself, I was worried about my Afghan colleague who had been threatened by Taliban supporters on Twitter. He had applied for passports for his kids. 
 
Trying desperately to speed up the process, he went to the passport office Sunday morning. Weekends are Thursday and Friday in Afghanistan.   He called while I was at a clinic getting tested for COVID-19 ahead of my flight.  He was breathless as he spoke: “They are throwing us out, telling us to go home. Everyone in the passport office is rushing out. The Taliban are inside Kabul.” I told him to go home then quickly tweeted the information.   As I walked out of the clinic and back to the guest house where I was staying, I saw people rushing. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry.   I learned the Taliban were not inside Kabul but on the outskirts — for now. They had issued a statement saying they did not intend to enter Kabul. With the president having left the country, the Taliban were negotiating with the government for a peaceful handover.   Twenty years after they were ousted, the Taliban had walked back victoriously and taken the capital without a shot fired.  History was in the making, so two other journalists and I went for a drive to see the mood of the city. Panicked drivers, some driving on the wrong side of the street, caused traffic jams. News of the nearness of the Taliban had prompted offices, shops and clinics to close. The city seemed to shut down, pushing everyone onto the streets at the same time.    When our car came to a standstill, we got out and started talking to people. As the car inched along, we did this several times. There was little or no security presence on the streets, except around the airport. Here is what people were saying:  Hamidullah, who did not want to give his last name, said people were panicking.  “I’m feeling really bad. Unfortunately, we will lose everything, the achievements of the last 20 years,” he said.  He said he had worked with the U.S. military and as an Afghan government employee and he was scared for his life.  “If Taliban control Kabul, they will try to kill me if they know about me,” he said.   Even though the Taliban had announced a general amnesty and reassured people there would be no revenge killings, their promises were not enough to assuage Hamidullah’s fears.    As part of my reporting, I checked various social media accounts to monitor how the story was developing.   The most moving tweet of the day was by Omaid Sharifi. His brainchild, an artist collective in Afghanistan called ArtLords, is famous for painting murals on the thick, gray concrete walls of Kabul, to make them look less menacing.   “We are painting a mural today-now,” he said. “It reminded me of the famous scene from @TitanicMovie, where the musicians play until the ship sinks.”Good morning #Kabul 🫂🍀🕊 – we are painting a mural today-now. It reminded me of the famous scene from @TitanicMovie, where the musicians play until the ship sinks. I hope you are enjoying as you see our miseries – world 🌎 pic.twitter.com/5JXsVhxQkJ— Omaid H. Sharifi-امید حفیظه شریفی (@OmaidSharifi) August 15, 2021Other observations from the city Sunday were a boy in a bright orange shalwar kameez, a local dress, throwing 12-packs of water into the back of a car.  Down another street, a young man who said he studied economics claimed the government had “surrendered” Kabul to the Taliban.   Some people said they were happy with the bloodless transition.  “I was very tense this morning, but I am feeling much better now,” said one man, who did not want to be named.     Back at the guest house, the cook, the cleaner and others had tears in their eyes and tension on their faces. One man, when asked whether he was afraid for his future, said: “It’s about staying alive right now.” 
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani slipped out of his country Sunday in the same way he had led it in recent years — a lonely and isolated figure. Ghani quietly left the sprawling presidential palace with a small coterie of confidants — and didn’t even tell other political leaders who had been negotiating a peaceful transition of power with the Taliban that he was heading for the exit. Abdullah Abdullah, his long-time rival who had twice buried his animosity to partner with Ghani in government, said that “God will hold him accountable” for abandoning the capital. Ghani’s destination was not immediately known. In a social media post, he wrote that he left to save lives. “If I had stayed, countless of my countrymen would be martyred and Kabul would face destruction and turn into ruins that could result to a human catastrophe for its six million residents,” Ghani wrote. Abdullah, as well as former President Hamid Karzai, who had pleaded with him many times to put compromise above retaining power, were blindsided by the hasty departure. They said they had been hoping to negotiate a peaceful transition with the Taliban, said Saad Mohseni, the owner of Afghanistan’s popular TOLO TV. “He left them in them lurch,” Mohseni said. Earlier Sunday, Karzai had posted a message to the nation on his Facebook page, surrounded by his three daughters, to reassure Kabul residents that the leadership had a plan and was negotiating with the Taliban.Taliban fighters take control of Afghan presidential palace after the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021.Hours later, he discovered the presidential palace had been abandoned.  “Ghani’s inability to unite the country and his proclivity to surround himself with his cadre of Western-educated intellectuals brought Afghanistan to this point,” said Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a U.S.-based research institute. “As Afghanistan collapsed, he refused to deal with the problems and further isolated himself from the power brokers he needed to deal with the problem, and the Afghan people as well.” Ghani’s style of rule was often characterized as cantankerous and arrogant, rarely heeding the advice of his government and often publicly berating those who challenged him. He was accused by ethnic minorities of championing the ethnic Pashtuns, like himself, seeing himself as a counter to the Taliban, who are mostly from the same ethnic group. He alienated other ethnic minorities, and the gap between Afghanistan’s ethnic groups grew ever wider. As he campaigned for the presidency in 2014, Ghani was taking an anger management course. It seemed to have faltered as multiple tribal elders in meetings with the president have spoken of his verbal lashings.  Ghani’s critics say his heavy-handed leadership style is to blame, to some degree, for the rapid disintegration of the Afghan army and an anti-Taliban alliance of warlords who fled or surrendered to the insurgents rather than fight for a widely unpopular president. “His downfall was his insistence on centralizing power at all costs and a stubborn refusal to bring more people under his tent,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the U.S.-based Wilson Center. “Later on, his inability to develop a clear strategy to address the Taliban insurgency and perceptions that he was obstructing the peace process hurt him as well.” Ghani, 72, spent most of his career overseas as a student and academic before returning to Afghanistan in 2002. He arrived with a powerful set of economic credentials. He was attractive to the West with his World Bank background and was seen as a possible solution to Afghanistan’s crumbling and corrupt economy. He was finance minister for two years until 2004.  In 2014 he fought his first presidential race. It was criticized as deeply flawed and allegations of widespread fraud threatened to destabilize the still fragile nation. Both Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory. In the end, the United States brokered a compromise and divided power between the two men and even created a new position of chief executive. The next election in 2019 fared the same. Again, accusations swirled of deep corruption and both Ghani and Abdullah declared themselves president. They eventually ended months of bickering and Abdullah became head of the National Reconciliation Council that was to bring Afghanistan’s warlords and political leaders together to put a united face before the Taliban. But Ghani’s belligerent operating style undermined him again. “He worked with a very small circle of ‘yes’ men and got filtered news about the country from them,” said Torek Farhadi, a former adviser to the Afghan government. “Others didn’t dare talk truth to him. He replaced all experienced people in the army and the government with junior people beholden to him. In a traditional country, Ghani was the guy who governed upside down.”  As the Trump administration opened negotiations with the Taliban in 2016, Ghani was asked by U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to bring together a strong united team, one that could conduct tough negotiations with the Taliban. Efforts quickly faltered.  In April a frustrated U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Ghani to forge a united stand. He warned the president that he had to expand his circle and be inclusive. “Unity and inclusivity … I believe is essential for the difficult work ahead,” Blinken wrote. “Even with the continuation of financial assistance to your forces from the United States after an American military withdrawal, I am concerned the security situation will worsen and that the Taliban could make rapid territorial gains,” Blinken warned. Roggio, of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said there are many reasons for the government’s collapse, but “Ghani was not the man to lead Afghanistan during its darkest hour.” 
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America’s top general said Sunday that the United States could now face a rise in terrorist threats from a Taliban-run Afghanistan. That warning comes as intelligence agencies charged with anticipating those threats face new questions after the U.S.-backed Afghan military collapsed with shocking speed. Less than a week after a military assessment predicted Kabul could be surrounded by insurgents in 30 days, the world on Sunday watched stunning scenes of Taliban fighters standing in the Afghan president’s office and crowds of Afghans and foreigners frantically trying to board planes to escape the country. Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators on a briefing call Sunday that U.S. officials are expected to alter their earlier assessments about the pace of terrorist groups reconstituting in Afghanistan, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. In June, the Pentagon’s top leaders said an extremist group like al-Qaida may be able to regenerate in Afghanistan and pose a threat to the U.S. homeland within two years of the American military’s withdrawal from the country. Two decades after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan because the Taliban harbored al-Qaida leaders, experts say the Taliban and al-Qaida remain aligned, and other violent groups could also find safe haven under the new regime.Taliban flags fly on the gate of Ghazni provincial governor’s house, in Ghazni, southeastern, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021.Based on the evolving situation, officials now believe terror groups like al-Qaida may be able to grow much faster than expected, according to the person, who had direct knowledge of the briefing but was not authorized to discuss the details of the call publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The Biden administration officials on the call with senators – among them were Milley, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — said U.S. intelligence agencies are working on forming a new timeline based on the evolving threats, the person familiar with the matter said. Current and former intelligence officials on Sunday pushed back against criticism of what was widely seen as a failure by the agencies to anticipate how fast Kabul could fall. One senior intelligence official said that “a rapid Taliban takeover was always a possibility,” adding: “As the Taliban advanced, they ultimately met with little resistance. We have always been clear-eyed that this was possible, and tactical conditions on the ground can often evolve quickly.” The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. But President Joe Biden didn’t suggest such an outcome at a July 8 news conference, when he said “the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely. ” The reduced U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan — down to 2,500 troops at the end of President Donald Trump’s term — may have hindered intelligence efforts in Afghanistan. Retired Lt. Gen. Robert Ashley, who led the Defense Intelligence Agency until October, said having fewer Americans embedded with Afghan forces meant there was less insight into how those forces would perform. “It’s very, very difficult to gauge the morale down at the unit level because you’re just not there anymore,” Ashley said. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if Afghan leaders would tell us only what we want to hear anyway.” Monitoring terrorism threats in Afghanistan will be even more difficult with U.S. troops withdrawing and the Taliban in control. Intelligence agencies in Afghanistan work side by side with troops. Without the same military presence, spies are severely limited in what they can collect about the morale of Afghan troops or support for the Taliban. “If they leave, which they did, that means we leave as well,” said Marc Polymeropoulos, who held several roles related to Afghanistan during a 26-year career in the CIA. “And that certainly affects our intelligence gathering footprint.” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democratic member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that once evacuations are settled that “our focus is going to shift” toward intelligence and counterterrorism activities. The U.S. will have to ensure it has the ability to track whether al-Qaida is reconstituting there, he said in an interview. “The Taliban has lots of reasons to honor their agreement with the United States and keep al-Qaida at bay. And our mission now is to put ourselves in a position where we can monitor and verify that that commitment,” he said. 
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As the United States continues to pull its embassy staff from Kabul, Afghanistan, the Biden administration is defending its withdrawal from the war-torn country while critics say the U.S. departure may create a humanitarian crisis and a haven for extremists. Michelle Quinn reports.Video editor: Mary Cieslak
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Governments worldwide were scrambling Sunday to react to the quickly changing situation on the ground in Afghanistan.  
 
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on Western nations to work together to address the situation in Afghanistan as Taliban insurgents take control of the capital Kabul.  
 
“We don’t want anybody bilaterally recognizing the Taliban,” Johnson said in a video clip.
 
“We want a united position amongst all the like-minded as far as we can get one so that we do whatever we can to prevent Afghanistan lapsing back into being a breeding ground for terror,” he said.An update on the situation in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/26BtPrlic4— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) August 15, 2021One issue is how to handle Afghan refugees. Britain has stated its commitment to accepting refugees from Afghanistan who aided British forces over the past 20 years. But the country has largely evacuated its embassy, with the British ambassador expected to be airlifted out of Kabul on Monday, The Telegraph reported.Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed Sunday that he had fled the country, claiming it was to prevent further bloodshed. The Taliban claimed their fighters had moved into Kabul, securing parts of the capital city.
 
Russian news agencies reported Sunday that Moscow does not yet recognize the Taliban as the new lawful authority of the country.
 
Like Britain, the United States has committed to housing Afghans who served as interpreters and otherwise aided U.S. military efforts in the country; however, Washington is seeking partner countries to take in at-risk Afghans while their applications are being processed.
 
Albania and Kosovo said Sunday they had accepted the U.S. request to accept thousands of at-risk Afghans.
 
The U.S. also said it’s sending additional staff to Qatar, where many Afghan refugees are being processed.
 
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday that it “called for an immediate, comprehensive and permanent cease-fire in all Afghan territories.”
 
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s neighbors, Pakistan and Iran, have both expressed concern over the current situation.  
 
Pakistan’s foreign minister told national television that the government does not have plans to close its embassy in Kabul; however, Islamabad has said that it cannot accept any more Afghan refugees and is continuing to work on fencing along its border.
 
Iran has set up hundreds of tents in three regions bordering Afghanistan, Interior Ministry official Hossein Qasemi told Iran’s state news agency IRNA.
 
He added, however, “We expect those Afghan refugees to return home when the situation improves in Afghanistan.”
 
While many countries are evacuating and shutting down their embassies in Kabul, the United Nations said this weekend that it was committed to keeping its agencies open amid the crisis.
 
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the U.N. has been in Afghanistan uninterrupted for the past 70 years.
 
The United Nations Security Council will meet at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 UTC) on Monday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, with a briefing by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
 
“I’m deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan & urge the Taliban & all others to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives & ensure humanitarian needs can be met,” Guterres wrote on Twitter.I’m deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan & urge the Taliban & all others to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives & ensure humanitarian needs can be met. The @UN remains determined to contribute to a peaceful settlement & promote human rights of all Afghans.— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 15, 2021 
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The chop of U.S. military helicopters whisking American diplomats to Kabul’s airport on Sunday punctuated a frantic rush by thousands of other foreigners and Afghans to flee to safety as well, as a stunningly swift Taliban takeover reached Afghanistan’s capital.U.S. reports of gunfire at the airport threatened to shut down one of the last avenues of escape in an ever-more chaotic and compressed evacuation.NATO allies that had pulled out their forces ahead of the Biden administration’s intended August 31 withdrawal deadline were rushing troops back in this weekend to airlift their citizens, while the Pentagon was sending in fresh reinforcements.  Some complained the U.S. was failing to move fast enough to bring to safety the Afghans who fear retribution from the Taliban for past work with the Americans and other NATO forces.”This is murder by incompetence,” said U.S. Air Force veteran Sam Lerman, struggling Sunday from his home in Woodbridge, Virginia, to find a way out for an Afghan contractor who had guarded Americans and other NATO forces at Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield for a decade.  Massouma Tajik, a 22-year-old data analyst, was among hundreds of Afghans waiting anxiously in the Kabul airport to board an evacuation flight.  “I see people crying, they are not sure whether their flight will happen or not. Neither am I,” she said by phone, with panic in her voice.  Educated Afghan women have some of the most to lose under the fundamentalist Taliban, whose past government, overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, sought to largely confine women to the home.  Taliban forces moved early Sunday into the capital and declared they were awaiting a peaceful surrender, capping a stunning sweep of Afghanistan in the past week.  That arrival of the first waves of Taliban insurgents into Kabul prompted the U.S. to evacuate the embassy in full, apparently leaving only a core of U.S. diplomats at the airport for the time being. Even as CH-47 helicopters shuttled American diplomats to the airport — and facing criticism at home over the administration’s handling of the withdrawal — Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejected comparisons to the 1975 fall of Saigon.”This is being done in a very deliberate way, it’s being done in an orderly way,” Blinken said on ABC’s “This Week.”John Kirby, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said the evacuation was following plans developed and rehearsed months ago.”One of the reasons we have been able to respond as quickly as we have these past few days is because we were ready for this contingency,” Kirby said.To many, however, the evacuations, and last-ditch rescue attempts by Americans and other foreigners trying to save Afghan allies, appeared far from orderly.An Italian journalist, Francesca Mannocchi, posted a video of an Italian helicopter carrying her to the airport, an armed soldier standing guard at a window. Mannocchi described watching columns of smoke rising from Kabul as she flew. Some were from fires that workers at the U.S. Embassy and others were using to keep sensitive material from falling in Taliban hands.She said Afghans stoned an Italian convoy. She captioned her brief video: “Kabul airport. Evacuation. Game Over.”Hundreds or more Afghans crowded in a part of the airport away from many of the evacuating Westerners. Some of them, including a man with a broken leg sitting on the ground, lined up for what was expected to be a last flight out by the country’s Ariana Airlines.U.S. officials reported gunfire near the airport Sunday evening and urged civilians to stop coming. U.S. military officials later announced closing the airport to commercial flights, shutting one of the last avenues of escape for ordinary Afghans.U.S. C-17 transport planes were due to bring thousands of fresh American troops to the airport, then fly out again with evacuating U.S. Embassy staffers. The Pentagon was now sending an additional 1,000 troops, bringing the total number to about 6,000, a U.S. defense official said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a deployment decision not yet announced by the Pentagon.The Pentagon intends to have enough aircraft to fly out as many as 5,000 civilians a day, both Americans and the Afghan translators and others who worked with the U.S. during the war.But tens of thousands of Afghans who have worked with U.S. and other NATO forces are seeking to flee with family members. And it was by no means clear how long Kabul’s deteriorating security would allow any evacuations to continue.  German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, whose government had been one of many expressing surprise at the speed of the U.S. withdrawal, told reporters in Berlin on Sunday that it was “difficult to endure” watching how quickly the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and how little government troops were able to do to stop them.  At a North Carolina-based adoption agency, Mary Beth Lee King sought a way to extricate two Afghan boys, ages 11 and 2, due for adoption by families in America.”I am terrified and heartbroken. I can only imagine what they themselves are feeling,” King said of the children’s adoptive parents and Afghan families.”Even if the U.S. won’t admit them to the U.S., get them somewhere, so that … we know that they are alive and safe,” she said of the two Afghan children.In Virginia, Lerman, the Air Force veteran, stayed up overnight Saturday to Sunday to finish an application for a special U.S. visa program meant to rescue Afghans who had worked with Americans.When Lerman hit “send,” he got a message saying the State Department email box for the rescue program was full, he said, sharing screenshots.The Afghan security contractor he was working to get out was sitting frightened inside his home with the blinds drawn and Taliban fighters outside, he said.The State Department said late Sunday afternoon it believed it had fixed the problem.”Never in my life have I been ashamed to be an American before,” Lerman said. “And I am, deeply.”
 
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U.S. officials watching armed Taliban fighters move into the Afghan capital of Kabul say American forces “firmly control” the U.S. embassy and the city’s international airport, even as the top U.S. diplomat described the scene as “heart-wrenching.”Taliban leaders declared victory Sunday in the lightning-like offensive as the last of the Afghan security forces melted away, leaving the gates to the Afghan capital open to the insurgent forces.But despite claims by Taliban that their fighters were securing parts of the capital, a U.S official told VOA that the U.S. embassy itself, as well as Hamid Karzai International Airport, were safe.“Our forces continue to flow in and firmly control HKIA [the airport] and the embassy,” the official told VOA on condition of anonymity.Afghan security forces stand guard at the entrance gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Aug. 15, 2021.The leading edge of three U.S. infantry battalions, some 3,000 troops, began arriving in Kabul Friday. On Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden authorized another 1,000 to head to Afghanistan, as Taliban forces crept ever closer to the Afghan capital.Still, it appears the U.S. is not intending to hold the grounds of its embassy in Kabul for long.An official at the embassy confirmed to VOA that staff are being relocated to a secure location at the airport to help oversee flights out and to be ready to evacuate themselves. An Anti-missile decoy flares are deployed as U.S. Black Hawk military helicopters and a dirigible balloon fly over the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021.NATO Sunday said it was doing what it could to help at the airport.“We are helping to maintain operations at Kabul airport to keep Afghanistan connected with the world,” a NATO official told VOA, adding the alliance was, for the moment, maintaining its diplomatic presence in Kabul.“The security of our personnel is paramount, and we continue to adjust as necessary,” the official added.Spoke with #UK PM @BorisJohnson and the Foreign Ministers of our Allies #Canada, #Denmark and #Netherlands on the situation in #Afghanistan. #NATO is helping keep Kabul airport open to facilitate and coordinate evacuations.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) The entrance gate of the Green Zone is pictured after the evacuation in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021.President Biden’s withdrawal plan is a continuation of a proposal set in motion by his immediate predecessor, Donald Trump. The Trump administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban in February 2020, setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan in return for the insurgents ending attacks on Americans and entering into talks with the Afghan government.But the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Sunday the onus falls squarely on the Biden administration.“They totally blew this one. They completely underestimated the strength of the Taliban,” Representative Michael McCaul told CNN’s State of the Union. “They didn’t listen to the intelligence community because every time I got an I.C. briefing assessment it was probably the grimmest assessment I’ve ever heard on Afghanistan.”In contrast, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement commending President Biden for “the clarity of purpose of his statement on Afghanistan and the actions he has taken.”The top Democrat in the House of Representatives also warned the Taliban that “the world is watching its actions.”“We are deeply concerned about reports regarding the Taliban’s brutal treatment of all Afghans, especially women and girls,” Pelosi said. “The U.S., the international community and the Afghan government must do everything we can to protect women and girls from inhumane treatment by the Taliban.”Still, outside observers cautioned that the fallout from Afghanistan could have a lingering impact on the Biden White House.“Biden has a process problem in the national security structure. That is part of the reason we have seen events play out so tragically in Afghanistan. They are far too insular and don’t take on board enough input from institutional experts,” Brett Bruen, a former director of global engagement in the Obama White House, told VOA on Sunday.Biden “needs to take a long hard look at what went wrong and more importantly how things need to change. It should start with his national security advisor.  If nothing changes, I fear we will see more avoidable adversity,” added Bruen, president of the Global Situation Room, a crisis management consultancy.(Steve Herman and Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.) 
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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, along with his vice president and other senior officials, flew out of the country on Sunday, setting the stage for Taliban insurgents to regain power in Afghanistan 20 years after a U.S.-led military invasion ousted them. Top members of the Taliban military commission arrived at the presidential palace in Kabul as Taliban fighters took positions at key posts in the city. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Sunday evening that the fighters were directed to guard security posts and other installations in Kabul to “prevent chaos and looting after Afghan forces abandoned them.” Mujahid urged the residents to remain calm, saying the move was meant to ensure the security of the people. There was no comment from Ghani. In a recorded message on Saturday, Ghani had told the nation he was consulting with both national and international players on the situation which he called an “imposed war.”Abdullah Abdullah, head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, posted a video on Facebook, criticizing Ghani. 1/3 Translaton of @DrabdullahCE’s message to Afghans: “I know you had a really bad day today and you spent a tough day. I ask you to stay calm. I ask National Security Forces to secure the city. https://t.co/SISwMottJW— Ayesha Tanzeem (@atanzeem) August 15, 2021Abdullah confirmed that Ghani had left the country and said, “I feel the former president left the country and people in a bad position. God will make him accountable.”   My message to the people of AFGHANISNAN, to the security forces and to the Taliban: https://t.co/MiFk0zaNRJ— Dr. Abdullah Abdullah (@DrabdullahCE) August 15, 2021Ghani’s whereabouts and destination are currently unknown. 
 
Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh, who is said to have accompanied Ghani and the others who left, in a tweet vowed not to bow to the Taliban, but he did not respond in the message to reports of him leaving the country.  I will never, ever & under no circumstances bow to d Talib terrorists. I will never betray d soul & legacy of my hero Ahmad Shah Masoud, the commander, the legend & the guide. I won’t dis-appoint millions who listened to me. I will never be under one ceiling with Taliban. NEVER.— Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) Abdullah Abdullah, the Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, arrives for Afghan peace talks in Doha, Qatar, Aug. 12, 2021.Under a deal reportedly reached, a delegation of Afghan leaders, including Abdullah, would travel to Qatar, where “the transfer of power to the Taliban” will formally take place, sources told VOA.Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who is based in the group’s political office in the Qatari capital, Doha, said in a statement that insurgent fighters have been directed not to harm anyone or attack government and private properties during the course of military advances.Shaheen said “anyone found guilty would be prosecuted and severely punished” by the Taliban. He insisted the Islamist group has maintained from the outset that it wanted a “peaceful transition of power,” blaming the beleaguered Ghani government for “pushing ahead with the war option.”Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Sunday evening that their fighters have been directed to enter parts of Kabul to guard security posts and other installations to “prevent chaos and looting after Afghan forces abandoned them.” Mujahid urged the residents to remain calm saying the move was meant to ensure security of the people.Earlier Sunday, the Taliban took over Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province and the last major city outside the capital to have been under government control. Anti-missile decoy flares are deployed as U.S. Black Hawk military helicopters and a dirigible balloon fly over the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021.The Taliban’s arrival at the gates of Kabul has embassies scrambling to get their personnel out.The U.S. is sending 1,000 troops, in addition to the 3,000 troops that were ordered last week, to help evacuate U.S. Embassy staff. Helicopters are reported ferrying staff to the Kabul airport.“We have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, via our Combatant Commander, that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts U.S. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. military response,” U.S. President Joe Biden said, according to a White House statement. 
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There was panic in the streets of the Afghan capital Kabul as reports came in that the Taliban were poised to enter the city.   A VOA Afghan service reporter was in the passport office when everyone was told to leave immediately and go home.    Smoke rises next to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021. Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital, further tightening their grip on the country.They announced a general amnesty for all and said there will be no revenge killing. Kabul residents had mixed reactions to reports of the Taliban’s arrival at the city.  Economics student and Kabul resident Ali Sina said, “I think the government has surrendered Kabul to the Taliban. I think it’s good for the people because there will be no fighting.”   When asked if he thinks he’ll be able to continue with his life under the Taliban he said, “I think so.”   Hamidullah, who only gave one name due to security concerns, sounded less hopeful.   “I’m afraid of Taliban controlling all of Afghanistan. I worked with U.S. military and if Taliban control Kabul, they’ll try to kill me if they know about me.” U.S. helicopters are reported to have landed at the American Embassy in Kabul and are said to be evacuating staff to the Kabul airport. The Associated Press says a Taliban official told it, “No one’s life, property and dignity will be harmed and the lives of the citizens of Kabul will not be at risk.”   Some information for this report came from Reuters, and The Associated Press. 
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The Taliban have reached Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, and say they are awaiting a peaceful transfer of power.Taliban sources told VOA that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s resignation was accepted during talks in Kabul.  They said leaders and elders from Afghanistan will travel to Doha where the transfer of power to the Taliban will take place.  There was no immediate comment from Ghani’s office.   Earlier Sunday the Taliban took over Jalalabad, capital of Nangarhar province and the last major city outside the capital to have been under government control.Various reports said security forces were also retreating from other districts of Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan and holds one of the key border crossings into Pakistan via Torkhem.Also Sunday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said their fighters took control of Bagram Air Base and the prison there and freed its inmates. There were high profile Taliban prisoners at Bagram, which served as the main base for the U.S.-led foreign military mission in Afghanistan.The speed of the Taliban offensive has shocked both locals and the international community. While violence in the country has been high since 2020, after the Taliban signed a deal with the United States, the latest campaign against Afghan cities has been unexpectedly fast.Members of the Taliban drive through the city of Herat, Afghanistan, west of Kabul, Aug. 14.2021, after taking the province from the Afghan government.The Taliban gains started with the capital of Nimruz province Friday, August 6, and nine days later they have surrounded Kabul from all sides.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in a recorded message Saturday, told the nation he was consulting with both national and international players on the situation which he called an “imposed war.”“In the current scenario, our top priority is to revitalize the Afghan Security and Defense Forces,” he said.The Taliban’s arrival at the gates of Kabul has embassies scrambling to get their personnel out.Anti-missile decoy flares are deployed as U.S. Black Hawk military helicopters and a dirigible balloon fly over the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2021.The U.S. is sending 1,000 troops in addition to the 3,000 troops that were ordered to go in last week to help evacuate U.S. Embassy staff. Helicopters are reported ferrying staff to the Kabul airport.“We have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, via our Combatant Commander, that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts U.S. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. military response,” President Joe Biden said according to a White House statement. Ayaz Gul from Pakistan contributed to this story.
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Local sources confirm that Taliban have taken over Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, leaving Kabul, the nation’s capital, as the only major city in Afghanistan under government control.Eyewitnesses said Taliban were walking around different parts of the city and had taken over the governor’s office and the police headquarters by Sunday morning.Various reports said security forces were also retreating from other districts of Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan and holds one of the key border crossings into Pakistan via Torkhem.The speed of the Taliban offensive has shocked both locals and the international community. While violence in the country has been high since 2020, after the Taliban signed a deal with the United States, the latest campaign against Afghan cities has been unexpectedly fast.The Taliban gains started with the capital of Nimruz province Aug. 6, and nine days later they have surrounded Kabul from all sides.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in a recorded message Saturday, told the nation he was consulting with both national and international players on the situation which he called an “imposed war.”“In the current scenario, our top priority is to revitalize the Afghan Security and Defense Forces,” he said.Expectations that the Taliban will march on Kabul next have embassies scrambling to get their personnel out.The U.S. is sending 1,000 troops in addition to the 3,000 troops that were ordered to go in last week to help evacuate U.S. Embassy staff.“We have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, via our Combatant Commander, that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts U.S. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. military response,” President Joe Biden said according to a White House statement.  
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The Taliban have swept through most of the country, taking 24 of 34 Afghan provincial capitals over the past week. The insurgent offensive captured several of them Saturday, including the fourth-largest northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.Here is the latest:Aug. 14 – U.S. President Joe Biden authorizes another 1,000 troops — in addition to the 3,000 ordered earlier this week — to assist in the evacuation of U.S. personnel and other allies from Kabul as Taliban insurgents drew closer to the Afghan capital.Aug. 14 – Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of northern Balkh province, falls to the Taliban after fierce fighting. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announces in a formal statement they have fully captured Mazar-e-Sharif, the country’s fourth-largest city, located on the border with Uzbekistan.Aug. 14 – President Ashraf Ghani makes a televised address, saying rapid consultations are underway to end the fighting. Calls for revitalization of armed forces.Aug. 14 – The Taliban seizes control of Asadabad, capital of eastern province of Kunar, Saturday afternoon.Aug. 13 – Abdullah Abdullah returns from Doha, Qatar, with a proposal for a political deal, rumored to involve a cease-fire, between President Ashraf Ghani and the Taliban, according to a former Ghani spokesperson. Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, is to return to Doha to discuss Ghani’s decision with the Taliban.Aug. 13 – Canada announces it is accepting 20,000 Afghan refugees, with the first planeload arriving in Toronto Friday, according to Agence France-Presse.Aug. 13 – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says NATO allies met in the North Atlantic Council to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. In a statement, he says “NATO will maintain our diplomatic presence in Kabul and continue to adjust as necessary” and that NATO’s “aim remains to support the Afghan government & security forces as much as possible.”The following is a compilation of the provincial capitals the Taliban has captured. There are 34 provincial capitals in the country:Captured provincial capitals:Aug. 14 – Mazar-e-Sharif, capital of northern Balkh province.Aug. 14 – Asadabad, capital of eastern province of Kunar.Aug. 14 – Maimana, capital of northern province of Faryab.Aug. 14 – Mihtarlam, capital of eastern province of Laghman.Aug. 14 – Gardiz, capital of eastern province of Paktia.Aug. 14 – Sharana, capital of the southeastern Paktika province.Aug. 13 – Qalat, capital of the southern province of Zabul.Aug. 13 – Pol-e-Alam, capital of Logar province and hometown of President Ghani.Aug. 13 – Firuzkoh, capital of central Ghor province.Aug. 13 – Tarinkot, capital of southern Uruzgan province.Aug. 13 – Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province in the south.Aug. 12 – Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city and capital of Kandahar province in the south.Aug. 12 – Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city and capital of the province of the same name. captured after two weeks of fighting.Aug. 12 – Qala-e-Naw, capital of northwestern Badghis province.Aug. 12 – Ghazni, capital of the province of the same name.Aug. 11 – Faizabad, capital of the northeastern province of Badakhshan.Aug. 10 – Farah, capital of the western province of the same name.Aug. 10 – Pul-i-Khumri, capital of the central province of Baghlan.Aug. 9 – Aybak, capital of the northern province of Samangan.Aug. 8 – Taloqan, capital of the northern Takhar province.Aug. 8 – Kunduz, strategic city that serves as the entryway to the northern provinces and Central Asia and is the capital of Kunduz province.Aug. 8 – Sar-e Pul, capital of the province of the same name.Aug. 7 – Sheberghan, capital of the northern province of Jawzjan.Aug. 6 – Zaranj, capital of Nimroz province in the south, the first provincial capital to fall after the Taliban escalated attacks on Afghan forces in May.Some information for this report came from Reuters and the Associated Press.   
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized another 1,000 troops — in addition to the 3,000 ordered earlier this week — to go to Afghanistan to assist in the evacuation of U.S. personnel and other allies from Kabul as Taliban insurgents drew closer to the Afghan capital.Biden’s announcement comes as the Taliban have swept through most of the country, taking 24 out of 34 Afghan provincial capitals over the past week.The stunning insurgent offensive captured several of them Saturday, including the fourth-largest northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. The advances have raised fears of an imminent attack on Kabul, where Western countries are scrambling to remove their citizens.“We have conveyed to the Taliban representatives in Doha, (Qatar), that any action on their part on the ground in Afghanistan, that puts U.S. personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong U.S. military response,” a White House statement quoted Biden as saying.A U.S. defense official explained that there will be 5,000 American troops in Kabul: on Thursday, Biden ordered 3,000 troops for the evacuation mission, 1,000 were already in Kabul and 1,000 more from the 82nd Airborne were added on Saturday.The Pentagon said the first batch of the authorized force, from a Marine infantry battalion, arrived Friday and that the rest of the troops were expected to be in place by the end of Sunday.U.S.-trained Afghan security forces have crumbled in the face of insurgent advances and surrendered without firing a shot or retreated in many of the cases.Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has blamed the sudden U.S.-led foreign military withdrawal for the shocking battlefield losses his government has suffered.On Saturday, Biden defended his decision to withdraw all American troops from the war-torn South Asian nation, arguing that Afghan government forces had to fight back against the Taliban.The U.S. president noted that during the past 20 years, Washington has sent young men and women, invested nearly $1 trillion, trained more than 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police, equipped them with state-of-the-art military equipment, and maintained their air forces.“One more year, or five more years, of U.S. military presence would not have made a difference if the Afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country,” Biden said in his statement. “And an endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me.”The U.S. troop withdrawal, which is scheduled to be complete by the end of this month, stemmed from Washington’s agreement with the Taliban signed in February 2020 under former President Donald Trump.On Saturday, Biden again criticized the deal, saying it “left the Taliban in the strongest position militarily since 2001.”The U.S. president stressed that he had to make a choice to follow through on the deal or ramp up U.S. military presence and send more American troops to fight once again in the Afghan civil conflict.“I was the fourth president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan — two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.”Taliban fighters have carried out a blitzkrieg-like offensive across Afghanistan, advancing on Kabul even as the first of the thousands of U.S. troops to be sent back to the country set foot on the ground.Saturday’s fall of Mazar-e-Sharif to the Taliban came just hours after Ghani vowed in a video message to the nation that he intended to fight the “imposed war” and would make sure that the Afghan security forces were up to the task.“In the current scenario, our top priority is to revitalize the Afghan Security and Defense Forces,” he said.The fall of Mazar-e-Sharif gave the Taliban control of the entire north of the country. The two warlords, Atta Mohammad Noor and Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, who had vowed to resist the insurgent assault on the northern city reportedly fled to neighboring Uzbekistan along with hundreds of their fighters.Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, witnessed intense clashes before Afghan army and pro-government militia forces surrendered to advancing Taliban, Abas Ebrahimzada, a lawmaker from Balkh province, told The Associated Press.“Unfortunately, the depth of the conspiracy, as a result of which Balkh collapsed, is very deep. The conspiracy is now facing #Kabul and its leaders,” Noor tweeted. He did not explain further nor did he discuss has whereabouts.My dear countrymen! Despite our firm resistance, sadly, all the government & the #ANDSF equipments were handed over to the #Taliban as a result of a big organised & cowardly plot. They had orchestrated the plot to trap Marshal Dostum and myself too, but they didn’t succeed. 1/2— Ata Mohammad Noor (@Atamohammadnoor) August 14, 2021The latest Taliban advances left only two major cities under government control, Kabul and Jalalabad, the capital of Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar.“You can see that they are trying to isolate Kabul,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Friday, cautioning that the city “is not right now in an imminent threat environment.” Still, he called the speed of the Taliban’s advance “deeply concerning.”The Taliban attempted Saturday to assure Afghans that insurgent fighters had been strictly directed to protect the life and property of all the citizens of the country.“We also assure all the diplomats, embassies, consulates and charitable workers, whether they are international or national, that not only no problems will be created for them by (the Taliban), but security and a secure environment will be provided to them,” a Taliban statement released to media said.The Taliban have ignored calls from U.S. and members of the international community to cease hostility and negotiate a settlement to the country’s long conflict with the Afghan government.The insurgent group demands Afghan President Ghani step down for U.S.-brokered peace talks between warring Afghan parties to move forward. Ghani has rejected the demand, insisting he will transfer power to an elected successor and not under Taliban pressure.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Ghani twice this week to stress the need for finding a political settlement to the Afghan war. The latest conversation between the two took place Saturday.“They discussed the urgency of ongoing diplomatic and political efforts to reduce the violence. The Secretary emphasized the United States’ commitment to a strong diplomatic and security relationship with the government of Afghanistan and our continuing support for the people of Afghanistan,” said a post-conversation U.S. State Department statement. 
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The World Food Program is warning of a dramatic rise in the number of hungry people in Afghanistan as fighting and displacement in the war-torn country intensify. A United Nations assessment of the food security and nutrition situation in Afghanistan finds one in three Afghans face acute food insecurity. That means an estimated 14 million people in the war-torn country are barely able to meet their daily minimum food needs.  Because of the dire situation, the World Food Program says malnutrition levels are soaring, and some 2 million children need nutrition treatment to survive.  WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri says the Afghan people are facing both an artificial and natural disaster, rendering them unable to feed their families.  He says a poor harvest is projected as the country has been hit by a second drought in four years.  UNHCR: Afghanistan on Brink of Humanitarian DisasterHundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians have fled fighting precipitated by the US and NATO troop withdrawal”We fear the worst is yet to come and a larger tide of hunger is fast approaching,” Phiri said. “It is not a secret the situation has worsened and is becoming increasingly unpredictable.  The conflict has accelerated much faster than we all anticipated.  And the situation has all the hallmarks of a humanitarian catastrophe.”   Since the U.S. and NATO have accelerated their troop withdrawal from the country, Taliban insurgents have seized more than half of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals.  The militant group reportedly is closing in on the capital, Kabul.While the drama is playing out, the hunger levels and suffering of the Afghan people are growing.  Phiri says the WFP has provided food aid to more than 4 million people in the last three months.  Given the magnitude of the emergency, he says the WFP is planning to more than double the number of beneficiaries and hopes to reach 9 million people by December.”Fighting has posed difficulties in moving humanitarian workers and assistance around the country,” Phiri said. “Aid workers are working under extraordinary circumstances in Afghanistan.  Notwithstanding the challenges, the World Food Program’s plan is to preposition food closest to peoples’ homes.”   The WFP has food stocks in warehouses across the country and a fleet of trucks to transport them but is appealing for $200 million to help pay for the operation.
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President Ashraf Ghani told Afghans in a recorded message Saturday that he intended to fight the “imposed war” and would make sure that the security forces were up to the task at a time when Taliban seems to be inching closer to the capital, Kabul, by the day.  “In the current scenario, our top priority is to revitalize the Afghan Security and Defense Forces,” he said in a 2½ -minute message that was shared on official government social media accounts and aired on Afghan public TV Saturday afternoon.The message quashed widespread rumors in Kabul that Ghani was going to announce his resignation and allow Taliban to enter Kabul in return for the militant group announcing a cease-fire.Afghan President Ghani: ‘Remobilization of Armed Forces Top Priority’ Taliban inching closer to capitalHowever, Ghani said he continued consulting with important players both within Afghanistan and internationally and would share the results with public soon.Ghani’s message came at a time when the Taliban have overrun 19 of the country’s 34 provincial capitals and are attacking Maidan Shahr, known as the gateway to Kabul. The provincial capital of Maidan Wardak is only 40 kilometers away from the Afghan capital.Taliban advances around the country have worried the international community, members of which seemed to be making contingency plans for their Kabul embassies.Both the United States and United Kingdom have asked their citizens to leave Afghanistan using commercial flights, saying they did not have the means to provide much assistance in case of an emergency.The U.S. is sending in 3,000 troops to help evacuate most of the embassy staff to other countries, although the embassy will remain open with skeleton staff.
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