Kabul

The Taliban have taken control of the abandoned Presidential palace in Kabul.

President Ashraf Ghani left the country earlier on Sunday - but the exact situation at the palace is still unclear.

According to local journalist Bilal Sarwary who spoke to two Afghans involved in direct negotiations, part of the agreement was that Ghani would join the transition of power ceremony inside the palace - but instead he and his senior aides left the country.

"Palace employees were then reportedly told to leave and the palace was (left) empty," the aides said. The Taliban later told a global wire service that they had taken it over.

Two officials from the Taliban told the wire there would be no transitional government following their lighting sweep across Afghanistan that led back to the capital two decades after the group were overthrown by US-led forces.

Ghani's destination was uncertain: a senior Interior Ministry official said he had left for Tajikistan, while a Foreign Ministry official said his location was unknown and the Taliban said it was checking his whereabouts.

Some local social media users branded him a "coward" for leaving them in chaos.

Afghan Embassy in India issued a statement condemning Ashraf Ghani's fleeing and leaving the countrymen in lurch:

We are all banging our heads in shame. Ghani Baba @ashrafghani fled with his crooks. He screwed and f***ed everything up. We apologize to everyone for serving the fugitive. May Allah punish the traitor! His legacy will be a stain on our history. @MEAIndia @suhailshaheen1 @ARG_AFG pic.twitter.com/9TJh0enuTV

— Afghan Embassy India (@AfghanistanInIN) August 15, 2021

Taliban fighters reached Kabul "from all sides", the senior Interior Ministry official told the wire and there were some reports of sporadic gunfire around the city.

BBC reported an NGO which runs a hospital in Kabul claims more than 40 people have arrived at their hospital - most coming from the Qarabagh area, on Kabul outskirts, where there has been fighting.

A tweet says 22 people have been treated in hospital and those with more minor injuries have been referred to other facilities.

More casualties were arriving, it added.

There are reports of gunfire at Kabul's airport, according to a security alert just issued by the US Embassy. The airport looked like a fish market in the night. At one stage, the UN security forces made a human wall around their aircrafts that were carrying the US citizens back home.

The scene at the Kabul airport posted by an Indian journalist:

Kabul airport right now after the airport security and other officials left. Complete chaos all across. Several civilian flights stranded. Many Afghans roaming around helplessly, waiting to escape. US betrayal visible in these shocking visuals. pic.twitter.com/Q9IZP7dQux

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) August 15, 2021

Officials have instructed US citizens in the area to take shelter, as "the security situation in Kabul is changing quickly".

The Taliban issued a statement under the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" banner saying the group has now been permitted to enter Kabul.

The statement claimed that Afghan police and other relevant institutions abandoned their duties and that to "prevent theft, looting and crime", the group's forces have been allowed to enter the capital.

"The Taliban will secure areas abandoned by Afghan forces in Kabul," said the statement.

It sought to assure citizens that the forces will neither enter their homes, nor "bother them".