Kabul —
Taliban fighters were on the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday
and on the brink of a complete military takeover of Afghanistan, but a spokesman
said they had been ordered not to enter the city.
اضافة اعلان
The Taliban's announcement
signaled the insurgents were confident of taking power imminently, as the
United States and other nations rushed to evacuate their citizens from the capital.
"The Islamic Emirate instructs all its forces to stand at the gates of Kabul,
not to try to enter the city, "a spokesman for the Taliban tweeted.
"Until the completion of the transition process, the responsibility
for the security of Kabulis with the other side (the Afghan government)".
The order came as residents reported seeing insurgents peacefully enter some of
Kabul's outer suburbs, triggering panic and fear.
"I saw police taking off
their uniforms and putting on shalwar kameez, "said one resident, referring
to traditional South Asian clothing.
The capture of Kabul would cap an
astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias across all of Afghanistan's
major cities achieved in just 10 days. It would also seethe hardline Islamic
group take back power two decades after US-led forces toppled it in the wake of
the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The scale and speed of the insurgents advance
have shocked Afghans and the US-led alliance that poured billions into the country
over the past two decades.
President Ashraf Ghani's government was left completely
isolated on Sunday after the Taliban claimed the anti-Taliban northern stronghold
of Mazar-i-Sharifand the eastern city of Jalalabad.
Like with most of the other
captured cities, the seizure of power came after government forces surrendered
or retreated.
It left the Taliban holding all the cards in any negotiated
surrender of the capital.
On Saturday Ghani sought to project authority with a
national address in which he spoke of "re-mobilizing" the military while
seeking a "political solution "to the crisis. Ghani offered no public
comments on Sunday.
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