By Spy Uganda Correspondent
The diplomatic staff of a number of countries were relocated to the Kabul Airport after it became clear that the Taliban would reach Kabul in a matter of days. On Sunday, the insurgent group surrounded the Afghan capital, has reportedly claimed control of the presidential palace after Ashraf Ghani left the country.
The US Embassy in Afghanistan has issued a security alert, saying there have been reports of a fire inside Kabul Airport.
“The security situation in Kabul is changing quickly and the situation at the airport is deteriorating rapidly. There are reports of the airport taking fire and we are instructing US citizens to shelter in place. The US Embassy in Afghanistan has suspended consular operations effective immediately. Do not come to the Embassy or airport at this time,” alerted American Embassy.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who had reported resigning after the Taliban surrounded Kabul and demanded a peaceful transition of power, has fled the country to Tajikistan.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has stepped down and left the country, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah said in a Sunday video message.
“The former Afghan president has left the nation”, Abdullah Abdullah, who heads the peace process, said. “He left Afghanistan in a hard time, God hold him accountable”.
In his video message, Abdullah also called on Afghan forces to ensure security and urged citizens to remain calm as the country is going through a coup.
A source said that a delegation led by the commander of the Taliban forces Abdul Ghani Baradar will head the administration of the president of Afghanistan.
A source in the Tajik intelligence service, however, stated that Dushanbe had no information on Ghani’s flight to the country.
A top Afghan foreign ministry official said separately that Ghani had left Afghanistan, but that it was not clear which country he was heading for.
The Taliban seized nearly all of Afghanistan in just over a week, despite over a trillion dollars spent by the US over 20 years to build up the Afghan security forces. Just days earlier, a US intelligence assessment estimated it would be 30 days before the capital would be isolated and 90 days until it would fall to the insurgent group.
