Taliban Overtook the Presidential Palace in Kabul as Diplomats Flee

On Sunday, the Taliban took over the presidential palace in the Afghan capital of Kabul. It is a dramatic development that indicates the end of a 20-year American era in Afganistan.

The astonishing reality came hours after Taliban rebels shifted their frontlines in Kabul. It happened after a succession of frightful battlefield reversals, driven by the departure of the U.S. and its coalition forces.

On Sunday, Ashraf Ghani, Afghan President, fled after Western nations started to evacuate embassies in the middle of a deteriorating security situation.

Antony Blinken, State Secretary, appeared on several news programs. In fact, he spoke about the possibility of abandoning the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

On Sunday, the State Department said that the military helicopter evacuated all U.S. embassy personnel safely from the embassy to the airport in Kabul.

Ned Price, State Department spokesman, said that all Embassy personnel were at the Hamid Karzai International Airport secured by the U.S. military.

Biden’s order

The latest announcement follows President Joe Biden’s order to send nearly 5,000 U.S. troops to Afganistan, Kabul, to evacuate embassy personnel.

Meanwhile, the State Department ordered U.S. Embassy personnel to destroy sensitive information materials before their departure.

Britain, Canada, and Germany also decided to send their troops to Kabul to evacuate embassies.

In recent days, the Taliban made battlefield reversals that put nearly the whole country under their control.

According to the officials, the group of Taliban started emptying Parwan prison, which had an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 inmates, including al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

In 2012, Bagram was at its peak that saw more than 100,500 U.S. troops passing. In Afghanistan, it was considered the largest U.S. military installation.

Last week, the group seized Afghanistan’s largest cities, Herat and Kandahar. The group also took Pul-e-Alam, the strategic town with one of the four main roads leading to Kabul.