After Talibani fighters raced into Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, the Taliban declared the “war is over”.
President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Islamist militants entered the city, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed, while hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport.
As heavily armed Taliban fighters took control of the abandoned presidential palace as Western governments hurried to evacuate their citizens, panic and fear engulfed Kabul on Monday. Hundreds of Afghans swarmed the Kabul airport, wanting to exit the country.
Spokesman Mohammad Naeem said in interviews with Al Jazeera TV the Taliban did not want to live in isolation and the type of rule and the form of the regime would be clear soon. The group respected women’s and minorities rights and freedom of expression within Sharia law, Naeem added.
Mohammad Naeem also called for peaceful international relations.
“Thanks to God, the war is over in the country,” he said.
“We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people,” he added. “We will not allow anyone to use our lands to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others.”
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A U.S. State Department spokesperson said early on Monday that all embassy personnel, including Ambassador Ross Wilson, had been transferred to Kabul airport to await evacuation and the American flag had been lowered and removed from the embassy compound.
More than 60 countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Qatar and the UK, have issued a joint statement saying Afghans and international citizens who want to leave Afghanistan must be allowed to depart and added that airports and border crossings must remain open.
The US has said that it would deploy as many as 6,000 of its troops at the Kabul airport to ensure safe departure of its citizens and those from its friends and allies from Afghanistan.
It added that ‘the Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity. We in the international community stand ready to assist them.’
(With inputs from Al Jazeera)
