Afghanistan's beleaguered President Ashraf Ghani said he wanted to stop the violence “as a historic mission” on Saturday and vowed to prevent further bloodshed as Taliban fighters closed in on Kabul.
He offered few specifics on what his administration was planning, with government control over Afghanistan all but collapsed, but the presidential palace later said in a statement that"a delegation with authority should soon be appointed by the government and be ready for negotiation".
As the Taliban closed in on Kabul, panicked residents formed long lines outside banks, hoping to withdraw their savings. Some branches appeared to have already run of cash.Insurgent fighters are now camped just 50 kilometres away from Kabul, with the United States and other countries scrambling to airlift their nationals out of the Afghan capital ahead of a feared all-out assault.
Warlords Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor, who had led a militia resistance to support government forces, had fled to Uzbekistan, about 30 kilometres to the north, an aide said. Muzhda, 35, a single woman who arrived in the capital with her two sisters after fleeing nearby Parwan, said she was terrified."I have turned down marriage proposals in the past... If the Taliban come and force me to marry, I will commit suicide."
Days before a final US withdrawal ordered by President Joe Biden, individual Afghan soldiers, units, and even whole divisions have surrendered -- handing the Taliban even more vehicles and military hardware for their lightning advance.The Taliban offensive has accelerated in recent days, with the capture of Herat in the north and, just hours later, the seizure of Kandahar -- the group's spiritual heartland in the south.
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