“No fighting is currently taking place in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban,” an Afghan government official told the agency, adding that “allowing passage” for the Taliban was the only way to save the lives of civilians.
The fall of the city, which lies on a strategically important road from Kabul to Pakistan, was also confirmed by Reuters by an unnamed Western official. According to AFP, the Taliban itself later announced the occupation of the city.
The Islamist movement has conquered a large number of provincial centers in recent days, some of which, like Jalalabad, have given up without a fight. It already controls more than two dozen of the 34 and controls most of the country. On Saturday, the Taliban occupied the fourth largest city in Afghanistan, Mazar-i-Sharif, and several other provincial centers.
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The Americans began to evacuate their diplomats
Employees are evacuated from the US Embassy premises by helicopter to the airport. “There are a lot of helicopters flying back and forth over Kabul as the United States and other countries evacuate their people,” said NBC reporter Richard Engel.
“Right now, as we speak, fewer people are leaving. Most of the employees are ready to leave – the embassy continues to work, “one of the American officials told Reuters. Referring to unnamed military officials, the AP reported that smoke could be seen near the embassy as employees tried to burn sensitive documents at the last minute.
“We have told Taliban representatives in Doha that any action on their part that would jeopardize our personnel and mission will be met with a swift and determined military response,” the US Embassy in Kabul said in a Twitter account. “We are now at the heart of all the brave Afghans and the Afghans in danger. We are constantly working to evacuate thousands of those who helped us, “the office added.
Given the speed of advance of Taliban fighters, it was to be expected that the evacuation of most American diplomats from Kabul would begin on Sunday. Several thousand American and several hundred British soldiers temporarily returned to the country due to the evacuation. Tens of thousands of people have fled to the metropolis in the last days before the Islamists’ offensive.
Activities of their embassies in Kabul reduced or discontinued more states, including the Czech Republic. They are usually also preparing for an evacuation, or have already started with it.
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