Taliban fighters take control of Afghan presidential palace after the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021.
Kabul airport on Sunday experienced a gunfire incident as diplomatic personnel of several countries was being evacuated from Afghanistan after Kabul fell to the Taliban. There have been no immediate reports of casualties. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on the same day, igniting chaos and panic as the terrorists enter the city. Several videos have surfaced showing chaotic scenes at Kabul airport as hundreds of people are seen reaching the airport to escape the country fearing Taliban rule. The main road to the Kabul airport is packed with Afghans desperately trying to escape and with thousands of American troops protecting the evacuation effort.
People in Kabul are afraid of seeing Taliban fighters on the streets of Kabul, Sharif Safi, founder of Kabul Peace Forum, told Al Jazeera.
"Today was different. The whole city was silent. Everyone was panicking. It was around noon that we heard rumors that they [Taliban] entered Kabul city," Safi said.
"From noon on, where I live, there was some gunfire. People feel devastated. Very strange feeling. The government that most of the people in Kabul support is no more in power. We just hope there is no more bloodshed and destruction," he added.
Afghanistan government collapsed earlier in the day with President Ashraf Ghani leaving the country and the Taliban's entry into the capital, the New York Times reported.
Taliban terrorists are assuming control of the Afghan capital of Kabul and have taken control of the presidential palace. Reports suggest that the movement will soon proclaim the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's former President Hamid Karzai along with Abdullah Abdullah and former Mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar have formed a Coordination Council in order to prevent chaos and manage affairs related to a peaceful transfer of power.
Meanwhile, a State Department official told the Associated Press that an American flag is no longer flying at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul amid evacuations from Afghanistan’s capital. The official said that nearly all embassy personnel have been relocated to the city’s international airport.
