Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani to be new Afghan President

Ground Report | New Delhi: Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will become the new president, as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani tenders his resignation as the government surrenders to Taliban forces in Kabul, Times Now reported.

Afghan Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal earlier announced on Sunday that there would be a "peaceful transfer of power" to the interim government in Afghanistan. The announcement follows a statement from the Afghan Taliban saying they would not enter the federal capital, Kabul, until the transfer of power.

"The Afghan people need not worry," the interior minister said in a pre-recorded statement. The city will not be attacked and power will be peacefully transferred to the interim government.

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Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani

A Taliban spokesman says Taliban fighters will not enter the capital, Kabul, and have been told to wait at the city's entrances. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement posted in his tweet that "the Islamic Emirate has instructed all its fighters to stop at the entrances to Kabul and not try to enter the city."

A Taliban spokesman said in a statement that "our fighters are not entering the city and we want a peaceful transfer of power." The statement, issued in Pashto, announced a general amnesty and assured everyone that no retaliation would be taken against anyone.

Afghan officials, meanwhile, say the Taliban have entered the outskirts of the capital, Kabul.

Speaking to the APK news agency, three Afghan officials said the Taliban had reached the outskirts of Kabul and had not encountered any resistance. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were not allowed to disclose the information. Taliban fighters have been spotted in Kalkan, Karabakh, and Paghman districts.

The Taliban have not yet acknowledged their presence in Kabul, but on Sunday they sent employees home from government offices prematurely as helicopters flew over Kabul. The Taliban have taken control of all major cities except Kabul after a rapid advance in Afghanistan.

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Let's take a look at their lightning speed advance:

• April: US President Joe Biden announces that US troops will withdraw from Afghanistan between May and September 11, ending the longest-running US war.
• May: The Taliban launch a major offensive against Afghan forces in the southern province of Helmand, and in other provinces.
• June: The UN envoy to Afghanistan says the Taliban have seized more than 50 of the 370 districts. The Taliban launched a series of attacks in the north, far from their traditional strongholds in the south.
• July 21: The Taliban control about half of the country's districts, according to a senior US general.
• August 6: Militants seize Zaranj in the south, the first provincial capital to fall to them in a year.
• August 13: In one day, the Taliban seized four more provincial capitals, including the country's second city, Kandahar.
• August 14: Taliban seize northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
• August 15: The Taliban seize the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight and besiege Kabul.

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