Taliban is again in power in Afghanistan after two decades .

Taliban soldiers

The Taliban has begun the process of forming a government in Afghanistan after taking control of the capital Kabul and declaring that the war is over as Afghan forces surrendered and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
 

Despite two decades of US military presence in Afghanistan, and a war that cost over a trillion US dollars, Taliban insurgents arrived at the gates of Kabul on Sunday and took the capital, installing themselves in the presidential palace with little resistance.

The fall of Kabul to the Taliban on Sunday had followed weeks of fighting between insurgents and Afghan forces across Afghanistan after the swift pull out of US forces this summer. In recent weeks, key cities and regions across the country had fallen to the Taliban at unprecedented speed, and the capture of Kabul sealed their control over Afghanistan.

Naeem said the Taliban would now begin the process of forming a government and would work for a peaceful transition of power, both domestically and internationally, and would aim to maintain international diplomatic ties. “We ask all countries and entities to sit with us to settle any issues,” he said.

Many Afghan leaders in cities across the country formally handed over power to the Taliban and the group is expected to formally proclaim a new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the coming days.

Afghan leaders, led by former president Hamid Karzai, said they had created a coordination council to meet with the Taliban and manage the transfer of the power.

 Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy commander and chief negotiator who has been in peace negotiations with the Afghan government in Doha, Qatar since last year, said the Taliban wanted to build an “an open, inclusive Islamic government”.

President Ghani flew out of the country on Sunday night, stating that he wanted to avoid any more bloodshed. “If I had stayed, countless countrymen would have been martyred and Kabul city would have been ruined,” he wrote in a post on Facebook. Hours later, Taliban commanders, laden with arms, were photographed standing behind Ghani’s desk in the presidential palace, where they had been escorted inside by a government official . .