As Taliban terrorists entered Kabul on Sunday, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has left the country, TOLO News reported citing sources. His close aides have also left the country along with him, the report added.
Earlier in the day, reports said that Ghani will relinquish power and an interim government led by the Taliban will be formed. Reportedly, the Taliban and Afghanistan government held talks at the Presidential palace after the terrorist organisation said offered "peaceful transfer of power" without any "force".
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said fighters were remaining on the outskirts of Kabul as negotiations took place. "Our forces have not entered Kabul city, and we just issued a statement saying that our forces will not enter Kabul city," Shaheen told Al Jazeera from Doha where peace talks are taking place. "We are talking and awaiting a peaceful transfer a transition of the capital city," he added.
The Taliban said it has no plans to take the Afghan capital "by force". "Negotiations are underway to ensure that the transition process is completed safely and securely, without compromising the lives, property and honour of anyone, and without compromising the lives of Kabulis," a Taliban statement said.
"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, although some residents reported fighters peacefully entering some outer suburbs.
Afghan Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said there would be a "peaceful transfer of power" to a transitional government. "The Afghan people should not worry...There will be no attack on the city and there will be a peaceful transfer of power to the transitional government," he said in a recorded speech.
Meanwhile, according to reports, US-based academic and former interior minister Ali Ahmad Jalali will be appointed as head of the new interim government.
