Prez Ghani leaves Afghanistan as Taliban enters Kabul; Air India flight carrying 129 passengers lands in Delhi | Updates
Kabul (Afghanistan) | Jagran News Desk: Air India flight AI244 carrying 129 passengers from Kabul, Afghanistan has landed in Delhi. Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has also left the country as Taliban on Sunday entered the capital city Kabul amid the fighting in the war-torn country. In a statement, the militants said it is hoping that the Afghan government will surrender "peacefully", bringing an end to the violence.
"Taliban fighters are to be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, as reported by Reuters.
Sources, meanwhile, have told Jagran English that Taliban didn't enter Kabul "by force", adding that an interim government would be formed in Kabul with the backing of the militants. They further said that President Ashraf Ghani -- who on Saturday vowed to prevent further violence in Afghanistan -- might resign from his position soon.
In Ghani's absence, a new leader would likely be selected to head the interim Afghan government. Though media reports suggest that Ali Ahmad Jalali will head the new government, sources have told Jagran English that he might not get the power as Taliban "does not like him much".
US evacuates diplomats via helicopters
The United States (US) on Sunday evacuated its diplomats via helicopters from its embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district. The US has also decided to send more troops to Afghanistan to help in the evacuation of its personnel from the war-torn country.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden had also warned Taliban that any action "that puts US personnel or our mission at risk there, will be met with a swift and strong US military response".
"Based on the recommendations of our diplomatic, military, and intelligence teams, I have authorised the deployment of approximately 5,000 US troops to make sure we can have an orderly and safe drawdown of US personnel and other allied personnel and an orderly and safe evacuation of Afghans who helped our troops during our mission and those at special risk from the Taliban advance," Biden said in a statement.
India closely monitoring Afghanistan situation
India, meanwhile, is closely monitoring the fast-changing situation in Afghanistan, reported news agency ANI quoting sources. On Sunday, an Air India flight also took off from Kabul with 126 passengers. The flight is expected to arrive in New Delhi tonight.
Earlier, India had reiterated security advisory for Indian nationals in the country in view of escalating violence, amid the withdrawal of US military troops.
The advisory asked Indians visiting, staying and working in Afghanistan to exercise the utmost caution with regard to their security and avoid all types of non-essential travel in view of a rising number of incidents of violence in various parts of the country.
In the advisory, India said the security situation in Afghanistan remains "dangerous" in certain provinces and that terror groups have carried out a series of complex attacks, including targeting civilians, adding that Indian nationals additionally face a "serious threat" of abduction.voicelimited