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U.S. says Kabul airport under fire after Taliban enters Afghan capital

15 August 2021 21:42 (UTC +04:00)

Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents entered Kabul on Sunday, President Ashraf Ghani left the country and the U.S. Embassy said the capital's airport, where diplomats, officials and other Afghans had fled, had come under fire, APA reports quoting Reuters.

It was not yet clear where Ghani was headed or how power would be transferred following the militant Islamist group's lighting sweep across Afghanistan that led back to the capital two decades after it was overthrown by U.S.-led forces.

"The security situation in Kabul is changing quickly including at the airport. There are reports of the airport taking fire; therefore we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place," a U.S. Embassy security alert said.

Hundreds of Afghans, some of them government ministers and government employees and also other civilians including many women and children, crowded in the terminal desperately waiting for flights out.