Power Sharing Off the Table, Taliban Promise Safe Passage to Ghani, Other Afghan Leaders

Waiting at the gates of Kabul, the Taliban have refused the power sharing proposal of the Afghanistan government and are planning their next move as the world waits with bated breath. The statement comes as the Taliban hold talks with the government to negotiate entering Kabul.

The Taliban have assured the Afghan government that they will provide a safe passage to the leaders, including President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Vice President Amrullah Saleh.

The insurgent group reiterated that they will not resort to violence in the capital city of Kabul. Earlier, in a statement, they had had said they will not enter Kabul by force. Follow LIVE Updates

Afghan Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal had said Sunday there would be a “peaceful transfer of power” to a transitional government, after the Taliban ordered its fighters to hold back from entering Kabul. “The Afghan people should not worry… There will be no attack on the city and there will be a peaceful transfer of power to the transitional government,” he said in a recorded speech.

The capture of Kabul would cap an astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias across all of Afghanistan’s major cities achieved in just 10 days. It would also see the hardline Islamic group take back power two decades after US-led forces toppled it in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

President Ashraf Ghani’s government was left completely isolated on Sunday after the Taliban claimed the anti-Taliban northern stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif and the eastern city of Jalalabad.

Like with most of the other captured cities, the seizure of power came after government forces surrendered or retreated. It left the Taliban holding all the cards in any negotiated surrender of the capital.

On Saturday, Ghani sought to project authority with a national address in which he spoke of “re-mobilising” the military while seeking a “political solution” to the crisis. Ghani offered no public comments on Sunday.

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