Taliban raid TV news channel compound in Kabul, leave with weapons

Armed Taliban entered the compound of Afghanistan’s Tolo News in Kabul on Monday and collected government-issued weapons before leaving with the ‘assurance’ of keeping the premises ‘safe’, the television network posted on its official Twitter handle.

The incident took place hours after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s presidential palace following President Ashraf Ghani’s escape to a central Asian country.

The Taliban fighters had on Sunday surrounded the capital Kabul and were waiting to take over the country.

Meanwhile, thousands of Afghans were seen gathering at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, the only exit points out of the country not in control of the Taliban yet, in a last-ditch effort to leave the war-torn nation, even as the administration shut the civilian airspace over Afghanistan.

In the ensuing chaos, at least five people died at the airport earlier in the day, news agency Reuters reported citing eyewitnesses who said US troops stationed there fired gunshots into the air to prevent frantic locals from boarding a civilian aircraft.

On the other hand, the US state department announced on Monday that the administration of Kabul airport is in the hands of American forces.

Visuals shared on various social media platforms showed hundreds of people running across the airport tarmac American soldiers fired warning shots into the air. A crowd was seen trying to board an aircraft while many latched on to the railings of a staircase leading to an aerobridge.

The rapidity with which the Taliban took over various provinces of the country, 20 years after they were routed, has stunned the US officials. Just days before the Taliban fighters entered Kabul with barely any resistance, an American military analysis had predicted it could take months for the Afghan capital to fall.