Taliban Enter Kabul From All Sides, US Evacuates Diplomats From Afghanistan

JAKARTA - Taliban insurgents entered the capital Kabul on Sunday, August 15, an Afghan ministry official said, as the US evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter.

The senior Afghan official said the Taliban were coming from "all over", but did not elaborate.

There are no reports of fighting. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that they were talking to the government about the peaceful surrender of Kabul.

The Taliban's entry into the capital confirms the victory of the armed group which the United States toppled 20 years ago from the peak of power following the September 11, 2011 attacks on the United States.

The collapse of the Afghan government's defenses took diplomats by surprise as last week US intelligence predicted Kabul would fall within three months.

"Taliban fighters are on standby at all entrances to Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed upon," the statement said.

A tweet from Afghanistan's presidential palace said gunshots were heard in several places around Kabul but security forces and international partners had brought the situation under control.

There has been no official explanation from President Ashraf Ghani. A palace official said he was talking to US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and top NATO officials.

The streets of Kabul were packed with cars and people rushing home or to the airport, residents said.

"Some people left their keys in their cars and walked to the airport," one resident told Reuters by telephone. Another resident said: "People are going home worried about the fighting."

US officials said the diplomats had been transported by helicopter to the airport from the embassy in the Wazir Akbar Khan district which is guarded by security forces.

Additional US troops are being sent to help with evacuations after the Taliban's lightning victory over Afghan forces brought the militant group to the capital Kabul in a matter of days.

Members of the US "core" team were working from Kabul airport, a US official said, while NATO officials said some EU staff had been moved to safety in the capital whose location was not disclosed.

Earlier on Sunday, the Taliban captured the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight putting them in control of one of the main land routes into landlocked Afghanistan.

They also took over the Torkham border post with Pakistan, leaving Kabul airport the only way out of Afghanistan.