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Taliban entering Kabul from all sides

15 August 2021 12:12 (UTC +04:00)

Taliban forces in Afghanistan entered the outskirts of the capital Kabul, APA reports citing the Associated Press.

Taliban fighters were in three districts of Kabul, the AP reported, citing three Afghan officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The news organization earlier reported that helicopters landed at the U.S. embassy compound early Sunday.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s office said national forces had the city under control even though gunfire could be heard in the city.

“The Afghan forces with the coordination of international forces have the city under control and no need for the people to worry,” his office said in a tweet.

President Joe Biden on Saturday boosted the U.S. troop deployment in an attempt to ensure an “orderly and safe drawdown.” The rapid, domino-like fall of Afghanistan’s cities to the fundamentalist forces has ramped up bipartisan criticism of Biden’s exit strategy and shocked may U.S. officials.

Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, is Afghanistan’s sixth largest city. Taliban militants on Sunday also took the provincial capital of Maidan Wardak, a few hours drive west of Kabul.

Biden’s authorization adds about 1,000 U.S. personnel to the deployment of 3,000 Marines and soldiers announced this week and 1,000 troops already at the airport and the embassy in the Afghan capital, according to a defense official.