Taliban reach Kabul, says in talks for peaceful transition

Bloomberg

The Taliban ordered its fighters to remain just outside the Afghan capital as it starts talks for a peaceful transition of power, cementing its renewed grip on the country two decades after the US ousted it from power.
Fighters from the militant group entered the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday as the US and other nations rushed to evacuate their citizens, the culmination of a three-week offensive in which the Taliban seized the bulk of territory in the country. Taliban forces now hold all of Afghanistan’s border crossings, leaving Kabul airport as the only route out, the Associated Press said. It added that Afghan forces surrendered Bagram Air Base, which the US handed over to Afghanistan last month after nearly 20 years.
“The Islamic Emirate instructs all its forces to stand at the gates of Kabul, not to try to enter the city,” the Taliban said in a statement on Sunday, referring to the group’s formal name. “Negotiations are under way to ensure that the transition process is completed safely and securely, without putting the lives, property and honor of anyone in danger.”
It was unclear exactly how the talks would take place. The AP reported that Taliban negotiators were heading to the presidential palace in Kabul to prepare for a transfer of power. Yet Bismillah Mohammadi, Afghanistan’s acting defense minister, said Sunday that “the president has extended all the authority to a delegation that is heading to Doha tomorrow for talks with the Taliban.”
The militant group has sought to reassure the country and the world that it will act responsibly as it prepares to resume power, following the swift collapse of a US-trained Afghan army after President Joe Biden ordered American troops to withdraw by August 31. Countries including the US, Canada, Germany and the UK have been moving to pull their diplomats out as the security situation worsens, even though Russia is planning to stay.
On Sunday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office said on social media that national forces have Kabul “under control and there’s no need for the people to worry.” But some key Afghan officials suggested it was just a matter of time before the Taliban took power.
“Until the transfer of the power, the security of Kabul is our responsibility,” Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal, Afghanistan’s acting interior minister, said in a video message posted on the ministry’s Facebook page.
Biden boosted the US troop deployment in an attempt to ensure an “orderly and safe drawdown.” The authorisation adds about 1,000 US personnel to the deployment of 3,000 Marines and soldiers announced this week and 1,000 troops already at the airport and the embassy, according to a defense official. Helicopters landed at the American embassy compound in Kabul early on Sunday, the AP reported.
Biden, who’s spending the weekend at Camp David, again defended his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan after 20 years—America’s longest war.
“I was the fourth president to preside over an American troop presence in Afghanistan — two Republicans, two Democrats,” Biden said. “I would not, and will not, pass this war onto a fifth.”

‘Watching in Horror’
Thousands of Afghan people have fled to Kabul in the face of the Taliban advance, with the crisis threatening to spill outside the country’s borders and send waves of refugees to as far afield as Europe. That has big powers including China and Russia — both of which engaged the Taliban in talks and have argued for a “political solution” involving the group — watching closely. Neighbouring Iran said on Sunday it will give temporary refuge to Afghans fleeing the Taliban.