Taliban return to power as president flees Kabul

Taliban insurgents entered Kabul on Sunday and President Ashraf Ghani left Afghanistan, bringing the Islamist militants close to taking over the country two decades after they were overthrown by a U.S.-led invasion.

This report produced by Chris Dignam.

Crowds packed the international airport in Kabul in a chaotic scene on Sunday, after Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed.

As night fell, local television 1TV reported that multiple explosions were heard in Kabul, which had been largely quiet earlier in the day.

It said gunfire could be heard near the airport, where foreign diplomats, officials and other Afghans sought to leave the country.

Aid group Emergency said 80 wounded people had been brought to its hospital in Kabul, which was at capacity, and that it was only admitting people with life-threatening injuries.

It was not yet clear where President Ghani was headed or how exactly power would be transferred following the Taliban's lightning sweep across Afghanistan.

Their advance accelerated as U.S. and other foreign troops withdrew in line with President Joe Biden's decision to end America's longest war, launched two decades ago.

The spokesman for the Taliban's political office told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the war is over in Afghanistan and that the type of rule and the form of regime will be clear soon.

Two senior Taliban commanders in Kabul said insurgents had taken control of the presidential palace.

Some local social media users in Kabul branded President Ghani a coward for leaving them in chaos.

American diplomats were flown by helicopter to the airport from their embassy as Afghan forces melted away.

The U.S. Embassy said in a security alert that "the security situation in Kabul is changing quickly," adding that there were reports the airport had come under fire.

A source who was at the airport said there were hundreds of desperate Afghans waiting for flights, with some scuffles among people unable to get a place as departures were halted.