After taking Jalalabad, the Taliban began a siege this Sunday (15) against the last stronghold of the Afghan central government, the capital Kabul.
Afghan government interior minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said the country will experience a peaceful transition of power without a direct attack on Kabul.
The United States had already started its plan to evacuate the American diplomatic contingent in the country. Officials said fewer than 50 employees would remain in Kabul and had been moved to a safe location, with part of the team being transferred to the city’s airport.
The United States also recommended that other embassies operate with limited staff.
The Taliban ordered their soldiers to avoid violence during the siege of Kabul, giving way to those who decide to leave the city and ordering the women to go to the protected areas demarcated by the group.
“We don’t want civilians to be injured or killed, but we have not declared a ceasefire,” a Taliban official told Reuters.
After more than four decades of almost constant war, the Afghans are living a new critical moment in the history of the country with the offensive of the fundamentalist group to take the government of the country by force.