Ashraf Ghani to step down 'within next few hours' as Taliban seize entire Afghanistan

Credit: Reuters

Kabul: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani is going to step down from his post as the Taliban took over the capital city Kabul on Sunday (August 15).

As the Taliban entered the gates of capital city Kabul, Ghani is expected to abdicate within the next few hours, Sputnik reported.

Ali Ahmad Jalali will serve as the head of the new interim government, media reports claimed even as negotiations are going on in the Afghan Presidential Palace to transfer power to the Taliban.

The Khaama Press News Agency reported that the Head of High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah is said to be mediating the process.

Meanwhile, Acting Ministers of Interior and Foreign Affairs Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal in separate video clips assured the people of Kabul will be secured as they are protecting the city along with international allies. Mirzakwal said Kabul will not be attacked and that the transition will happen peacefully. Mirzakwal assured Kabul residents that security forces will ensure the security of the city.

The Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of Kabul today as panicked workers fled government offices.

The Taliban have said that they didn't plan to take the capital by force.

The United States evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter and a government minister said power would be handed over to an interim administration.

Despite the pledges, panic set in as many rushed to leave the country through the Kabul airport, the last route out of the country as the Taliban now hold every border crossing. Rapid shuttle flights of Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters near the embassy began a few hours later after the militants seized the nearby city of Jalalabad.

In a nationwide offensive that has taken just over a week, the Taliban has defeated, co-opted or sent Afghan security forces fleeing from wide swaths of the country, even though they had some air support from the U.S. Military.