On Sunday night, Swedish time, news came that the Taliban had captured Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, 150 km east of Kabul. Thus, they have secured the road to neighboring Pakistan. According to Reuters, the Taliban captured the city without protest.
– There is no fighting in Jallikkat now as the governor has abandoned the Taliban. A local official told the news agency that this was the only way to save the lives of the public.
A resident of Jalalabad confirms to AFP that the Taliban have seized power in Jalalabad.
– This morning we hoisted Taliban white flags all over the city. They went inside without a fight, he says.
The Taliban have now taken control In all major cities in Afghanistan except Kabul. On Saturday, they captured the strategically important city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, where Swedish forces had previously operated. Even there, government forces abandoned without any major opposition, Reuters reported.
Afghan government forces reportedly abandoned Mazar-i-Sharif and headed north to Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government says it has arrested 84 Afghan military personnel. There are additional soldiers on the bridge connecting the two countries. A.P. Atta Mohammad Noor and Abdul Rashid Dost, two militants who were supposed to defend the city against the Taliban attack, reportedly chose to flee.
Earlier this week, Kandahar fell in the south and Herat in the northwest, meaning the Taliban are now basically encircling Kabul.
On Sunday morning, Swedish time, the United States began expelling embassy staff. Helicopters reportedly landed at the embassy building in Kabul A.P..
– We have a small group leaving now. Most of the staff are ready to leave, but the embassy continues to operate, US sources told Reuters.
Joe Biden, President of the United States It has decided to send 5,000 troops to expel diplomats who have served in the U.S. military and to Afghanistan. Biden warned on Saturday that the Taliban were in danger because they would be met with a “quick and strong US military response”. Official report.
Britain sends 600 troops to evacuate troops in Afghanistan. According to Telegraph The British ambassador will be flown out on Monday night, fearing the Taliban will seize the airport and cut off airspace from Kabul.
The Swedish embassy in Kabul has reduced its minimum staff – enough to carry out the embassy’s most important functions. There is no plan yet to evict all embassy staff.
“The embassy will remain open as long as it is in line with Swedish interests and the security situation,” the Foreign Ministry’s news service wrote to DN on Saturday.
Nearly 250,000 People have been forced to flee since the fighting broke out in May. Many of them have taken refuge in Kabul and are sleeping in parks and on the streets.
There is great panic in Kabul. The city is home to tens of thousands of people from fleeing provinces. “People have rushed to the banks and prices for fuel and food have gone up,” he says Alzheimer’s Reporter Charlotte Bellis on the site.
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