LAST HOUR: The Taliban have entered Kabul. The United States evacuates its people by helicopters
The Taliban encircled the Afghan capital, the last city under government control, as the United States began evacuating its diplomats from the embassy by helicopter, Reuters reports.
According to an official in Afghanistan’s interior ministry, the Taliban come “from all sides.”
Three Afghan officials told the Associated Press that the Taliban are in kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman districts in the capital Kabul. The militants claimed that they did not want to forcibly occupy the city of Kabul.
On the other side, the Taliban said they had asked its fighters to stay at the entrances to the city, talking about the high number of civilians who could fall victim to the clashes, the BBC reports.
“No one’s life, property and dignity will be affected and the lives of the people of Kabul will not be in danger,” said the Taliban, who stressed that, at the moment, the government is responsible for the safety of the citizens, but also that there are talks for a peaceful transfer of power.
“We are stuck here. The planes are full”
An Afghan lawmaker, Farzana Kochai, said people are desperately trying to flee Kabul.
“I don’t know, we can’t go anywhere, we have nowhere else. The planes departing from Kabul today are full, I checked with friends who have left for the airport and want to go to India or other countries. I say all the planes are full and we are stuck here,” he said.
In the capital Kabul, thousands of people have also arrived in recent days who have fled the taliban. They were hoping that here they would be safe.
“For women, the situation is worse. They will be locked in their homes, that will happen,” the Afghan lawmaker said.
A similar message was sent by an Aisha Khurram, a former UN representative. She wrote on Twitter that at kabul University, evacuated this morning, teachers say goodbye to their students.
Some teachers said goodbyes to their female students as everyone was evacuated from Kabul University this morning… and we might not see our graduation like thousands of students around the country.
Taliban are placed all over the city, just waiting for the right time…
— Aisha Khurram (@AishaKHM) August 15, 2021
The U.S. evacuates its people by helicopters
During this time, U.S. embassy personnel are evacuated by helicopter. A U.S. official told CNN that the evacuations are in full swing, with the aim of removing U.S. embassy staff by Tuesday morning at the latest.
According to CNN, the U.S. embassy will hold non-stop evacuations, “very soon.” For now, helicopters continue to transfer staff from the embassy to the airport.
CNN reported that the plan is to try to evacuate embassy staff, followed by U.S. citizens, then holders of special visas for immigrants. It also wants to evacuate Afghan citizens working at the US embassy.