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Afghanistan live updates: Chaos as thousands try to flee after Taliban ‘win’ war

After just 10 days of fighting, the Taliban has declared victory of Afghanistan, with thousands of terrified people doing whatever to escape.

Andrew Backhouse and Natalie Wolfe
5 min read
August 23, 2021 - 11:04AM
Chaos as thousands try to flee after Taliban ‘win’ war

The Taliban is claiming victory in Afghanistan, declaring “the war is over”.

“We have reached what we were seeking, the freedom of our country and the independence of our people,” a spokesman for the Taliban told Al Jazeera.

The spokesman said the Taliban did not think foreign forces would “repeat their failed experience in Afghanistan again”.

It took the Taliban less than two weeks to take control of 26 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals.

Eyewitness describes ‘chaos’ at Kabul airport

There were scenes of “chaos” at Kabul International Airport as the Taliban surrounded the Afghan capital.

US troops fired shots into the air at Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans crowded onto the tarmac in the hope of catching a flight out of the country after the Taliban takeover of the country.

“I feel very scared here. They are firing lots of shots into the air,” a witness told AFP.

Journalists captured Kabul locals hanging from an aeroplane gangway in an attempt to board planes.

Civilians try to board planes to flee the Taliban. Picture: Ahmer Khan
Civilians try to board planes to flee the Taliban. Picture: Ahmer Khan

“The departure hall turned into chaos after people said boarding passes were being printed secretly for officials and high-profile people who showed up at the airport,” an eyewitness told the BBC.

“I saw three former MPs, a few deputy ministers and some celebrities queuing up. Some didn’t even have a booking. We waited for almost eight hours, until airport staff started leaving their desks – first the check-in counters and then the migration and passport desks … different rumours created chaos. Some escaped from the airport and some rushed towards the gates.”

Hundreds of Afghans swarmed the airport, in a final bid to flee the Taliban takeover.

President flees Afghanistan as Taliban arrive in Kabul

President Ashraf Ghani fled the country over the weekend, effectively ceding power to the Taliban as its fighters reached Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on Sunday.

Mr Ghani’s location has not been disclosed but it is believed he fled with his wife, chief of staff and national security adviser to Tashkent in neighbouring Uzbekistan.

In a Facebook post Mr Ghani said he believed “countless patriots would be martyred” and the city of Kabul would be “destroyed” if he had stayed behind.

“Taliban have won the judgement of sword and guns and now they are responsible for protecting the countrymen’s honour, wealth and self-esteem. They didn’t win the legitimacy of hearts.”

The Taliban declaring victory comes as photos of fighters in the presidential palace were published online.

Taliban fighters in Kabul’s presidential palace. Picture: Al Jazeera.
Taliban fighters in Kabul’s presidential palace. Picture: Al Jazeera.

“The former Afghan President has left the nation, leaving the people to this situation,” Abdullah Abdullah, who heads the peace process, said in a video on his Facebook page.

“God hold him accountable, and the people will have their judgment.”

The Afghan government had earlier signalled there were negotiations underway to avoid bloodshed in Kabul, and to give the Taliban control.

Video aired by Al Jazeera showed Taliban militants inside the palace just hours after it was confirmed President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country.

Three Afghan government officials were present at the palace for the “handover” to the Taliban, CNN reports.

The Taliban earlier said its fighters had entered a number of district centres in Kabul, and that it was in control of 11 of them.

A spokesman said they entered the districts to “ensure safety”.

Taliban wants ‘peaceful transfer’ of power

The insurgents earlier said they want a “peaceful transfer” within the next few days, two decades after US-led forces toppled it in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“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,” Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said in a recorded speech.

Mr Ghani’s departure from office was one of the key demands of the Taliban in months of peace talks with the government, but he had stubbornly clung to power.

Thousands of police and other armed services members have abandoned their posts, uniforms and even weapons. The Taliban said overnight it had no plans to take the Afghan capital “by force”.

“It is our responsibility and we will do it in the best possible manner,” Mr Ghani said, hours after the Taliban seized two nearby prisons and released thousands of inmates.

A spokesman for the Taliban earlier released a statement saying it had instructed its fighters to “stay at the gates of Kabul and not enter the city. Until the transition takes place, the Afghan government is responsible for the security of Kabul”.

The statement added: “We don’t want a single, innocent Afghan civilian to be injured or killed as we take charge but we have not declared a ceasefire.”

Pro-Taliban social media accounts boasted that its fighters were moving rapidly through the outlying districts of Kabul province, with the outskirts of the city in close proximity.

Taliban fighters sit on an Afghan National Army (ANA) humvee vehicle after seizing Langham province on August 15. Picture: AFP
Taliban fighters sit on an Afghan National Army (ANA) humvee vehicle after seizing Langham province on August 15. Picture: AFP

Sweeping campaign

Kabul was the last city not controlled by the militants after a sweeping campaign that began months ago.

The insurgents took control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday, just hours after seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif.

That victory left the capital open and extended an astonishing rout of government forces and war lord militias achieved in just 10 days.

BBC reporter Yalda Hakim, who has reported from Afghanistan for years, said the militants were not encountering a lot of resistance in the Afghan capital.

The Taliban has reportedly ordered its fighters to refrain from perpetrating violence in Kabul.

Reuters quoted a Taliban leader in Doha saying safe passage would be allowed for anyone who chose to leave.

He also requested that women go to protected areas.

Final attemps to flee Kabul before Taliban arrived

There were reports of massive traffic jams and a run on banks as people tried to desperately flee Kabul.

AFP footage showed big queues of Afghans outside banks in Kabul.

Afghan MP Farzana Kochai told the BBC, people had nowhere left to go in Kabul.

“I don’t know, they can’t go to anywhere, there’s nowhere left. The aircraft may be full and the flights from Kabul today, I checked with some friends who are going there, out of Kabul, like to India or any other neighbouring countries,” she said.

“They’re saying that the flights are full and we are stuck here, those who are going to go out and you know, where can they go, they have no choice, they have to stay here.”

Biden orders more troops to aid evacuation

US President Joe Biden has authorised an additional 1000 US soldiers for deployment to Afghanistan as the situation in the country spirals.

That was on top of the 3000 American soldiers deployed in recent days.

US Embassy personnel have been ordered to urgently destroy any sensitive documents.

A US military helicopter is pictured flying above of US embassy in Kabul on August 15, 2021. Picture: Wakil Kohsar/AFP
A US military helicopter is pictured flying above of US embassy in Kabul on August 15, 2021. Picture: Wakil Kohsar/AFP

Shocking speed of advance

The scale and speed of the Taliban’s advance has shocked Afghans and the US-led alliance that poured billions into the country after toppling the insurgents in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

President Joe Biden announced in May that the final withdrawal of the 20-year military presence in Afghanistan would be completed by September 11.

That decision has come under increased scrutiny given the collapse of the Afghan armed forces, but he insisted on Saturday there was no choice.

“I was the fourth president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan – two Republicans, two Democrats. I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth,” Mr Biden said.

Australia completed its formal troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in July.

—with AFP

Originally published as Afghanistan live updates: Chaos as thousands try to flee after Taliban ‘win’ war

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