Conflict
Crisis/Conflict/Terrorism
Several Afghan officials arrive at Kabul Airport to flee nation: Reports

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 15 Aug 2021, 06:25 am Print

Several Afghan officials arrive at Kabul Airport to flee nation: Reports Afghanistan

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Kabul: Several high-ranking Afghanistan officials have reached the Kabul airport to fly out of the city as Taliban terrorists are fast approaching it.

A source at the Hamid Karzai international airport in Kabul has told CNN that a number of high-ranking Afghan officials, including some of President Ashraf Ghani’s advisors, arrived at the VIP lounge of the airport and were waiting for a flight out of Kabul.

Their intended destination is unknown, the news channel reported.

Meanwhile, Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kabul on Sunday to oversee a peaceful transfer of power, with President Ashraf Ghani to step down, even as reports said that Ali Ahmad Jalali, a former interior minister, would head the new interim government for six months, reports UNI news agency.

Al Arabiya and other news sites said that Jalali will be the new head of the interim Afghanistan government.

Earlier reports had said that Baradar would be the new Afghan president, after Ghani steps down. Ghani is expected to step down on Sunday, and the swearing in of the new interim government could take place in a day or two, reports said as quoted by UNI.

Taliban negotiators and Afghanistan officials have reached an agreement for a peaceful transfer of power with talks being held in the presidential palace, hours after the Taliban surrounded the Afghan capital, following a blitz in which they overran major provincial capitals.

A Taliban spokesman has told the BBC "there will be no revenge" on the people of Afghanistan.

"We assure the people in Afghanistan, particularly in the city of Kabul, that their properties, their lives are safe - there will be no revenge on anyone," Suhail Shaheen told the BBC.

"We are the servants of the people and of this country," Suhail said.

"Our leadership have instructed our forces to remain at the gate of Kabul - not to enter the city. We are awaiting a peaceful transfer of power," Suhail said.

Taliban's activities in Afghanistan increased ever since the foreign forces started leaving the country.