Illustrative image.
On August 15 afternoon, the Taliban announced that it had ordered its “Mujahedeen” to enter the Afghan capital Kabul in order to “prevent chaos and theft”.
Taliban fighters reached Afghanistan’s largest urban center in the early hours of the morning. At the time, the Taliban said that it is not planning to take Kabul by “force”. The group’s plans have apparently changed.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said that the group fighters will enter certain parts of Kabul and takeover a number of outposts which were abandoned by government forces.
The spokesman went on to call on the residents of Kabul “not to panic” during the deployment of Taliban fighters in the city.
The Taliban will not likely face any resistance from government forces. However, the group’s fighter may come in contact with more than 5,000 US troops currently evacuating American diplomats and citizens from Kabul.
The group’s decision to enter the capital came a few hours after the resignation of President Ashraf Ghani. A senior Afghan Interior Ministry official confirmed to Reuters that Ghani had left for Tajikistan.
As the Taliban takes over what’s left of Afghanistan, some in the US are still desperately trying to spin the ill-fated intervention in the country as a victory.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement to ABC that the US successfully completed its mission in Afghanistan.
“This is not Saigon,” Mr. Blinken said referring to the infamous withdrawal of US troops from the Vietnamese capital in 1975. “The fact of the matter is this: We went to Afghanistan 20 years ago with one mission in mind. That was to deal with the people that attacked us on 9/11. That mission has been successful.”
The fall of the US-backed government in Afghanistan was in fact worse than what was expected, even by the US intelligence. Within a few days, the Taliban overrun most of the country, seizing along the way millions-worth of US-supplied military equipment.
