The Taliban have declared the war in Afghanistan as over after taking control of the presidential palace in the capital Kabul.
The insurgents entered the city on Monday as US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled to evacuate their citizens.
On Sunday, Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani fled the country as insurgent forces marched into the capital, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed.
Even as Mr. Ghani fled, hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport.
“Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for twenty years,” Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for the Taliban’s political office, told Al Jazeera TV.
“Thanks to God, the war is over in the country,” he said.
It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as government forces, trained for years and equipped by the US and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away.
Al Jazeera broadcast footage of what it said were Taliban commanders in the presidential palace with dozens of armed fighters.
Mr. Naeem said the form of the new regime in Afghanistan would be made clear soon, adding the Taliban did not want to live in isolation and calling for peaceful international relations.
“We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people,” he said.
“We will not allow anyone to use our lands to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others,” he added.
A US 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.
Hundreds of Afghans invaded the airport’s runways in the dark, pulling luggage and jostling for a place on one of the last commercial flights to leave the country before US forces took over air traffic control on Sunday.
Reuters/Dhaka Times