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WATCH | Gunshots, fleeing and Islamist militants' return to power: Taliban take over Afghan capital

The Taliban moved on Kabul on August 15 2021, despite having initially claimed they would not enter the city until a transfer of power was agreed.

Crowds packed the international airport in chaotic scenes on Sunday after Taliban insurgents entered the Afghan capital and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed.

As night fell, television station 1TV reported that multiple explosions were heard in Kabul, which had been largely quiet earlier in the day. It said gunfire could be heard near the airport, where foreign diplomats, officials and other Afghans sought to leave the country.

Aid group Emergency said 80 wounded people had been brought to its hospital in Kabul, which was at capacity, and that it was only admitting people with life-threatening injuries.

It was not yet clear where Ghani was headed or how power would be transferred after the Taliban’s lightning sweep across Afghanistan.

The US Embassy said in a security alert that “the security situation in Kabul is changing quickly”, adding there were reports the airport had come under fire.

A source at the airport said there were hundreds of desperate Afghans waiting for flights, with scuffles among people unable to get a place when departures were halted.

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