Removed Afghan flag and hoisted Taliban Flag at Kabul palace

The Taliban seize power in Afghanistan. The Taliban removed the Afghan black, red and green flag from the Kabul palace, and hoisted the Taliban flag instead and soon to declare the new name, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani has reportedly sought refuge in Tajikistan.

Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president who left the country when the Taliban besieged Kabul, has also reacted. Gani’s explanation is that he left the country to avoid bloodshed. His departure came after a quick Taliban offensive across the country toppled city after city, spurred by an end to the U.S. military presence after two decades. On Sunday, the insurgents entered the outskirts of Kabul but initially remained outside of the city’s downtown. The Taliban have said they will not enter the city and will hand over power to an interim government. Meanwhile, Taliban negotiators in the capital discussed the transfer of power, said an Afghan official. It remained unclear when that transfer would take place and who among the Taliban was negotiating. The negotiators on the government side included former President Hamid Karzai, leader of Hizb-e-Islami political and paramilitary group Gulbudin Hekmatyar and Abdullah, who has been a vocal critic of Ghani.

On Sunday, Afghan forces at Bagram air base also surrendered to the Taliban. The US flag has been removed from the US embassy in Kabul – a final step in the evacuation of the embassy. In a stunning rout, the Taliban seized nearly all of Afghanistan in just over a week, despite the billions of dollars spent by the U.S. and NATO over nearly two decades to build up Afghan security forces. Just days earlier, an American military assessment estimated it would be a month before the capital would come under insurgent pressure.