LAHORE MIRROR (Monitoring Desk)– The history is going to repeat itself as the Taliban entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Sunday as the United States evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter and a government minister said power would be handed over to an interim administration.
A senior interior ministry official told Reuters the Taliban rebels were coming “from all sides” into the capital but gave no further details.
There were no reports of fighting. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the group was in talks with the government for a peaceful surrender of Kabul.
“Taliban fighters are to be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed,” the statement said.
The entry into the capital caps a lightning advance by the Islamist militants, who were ousted from Kabul 20 years ago by the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks. The collapse of the Afghan government defence has stunned diplomats – just last week, a U.S. intelligence estimate said Kabul could hold out for at least three months.
There was no immediate word on the situation from President Ashraf Ghani. A palace official said he was in emergency talks with U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top NATO officials.
Power would be handed over to a transitional administration, the government’s acting interior minister, Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal, said in a tweet on the Tolo news channel. “There won’t be an attack on the city, it is agreed that there will be a peaceful handover,” he said without elaborating.
SOURCE: REUTERS
