Taliban insurgents entered Kabul unopposed and President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan yesterday, bringing the Islamist militants close to taking over the country two decades after they were overthrown by a US-led invasion. 

Chaos erupted at Kabul airport yesterday after thousands gathered there fleeing the Taliban came under fire. 

Taliban insurgents began entering Kabul yesterday after taking control of all of Afghanistan’s major cities apart from the capital. Following are some of the major milestones in the Islamist militant movement’s advance in recent months.

RELIGIOUS STUDENTS: The Taliban originated among young Afghans who studied in Sunni Islamic schools called madrassas in Pakistan after fleeing Afghanistan during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation.

Two of Afghanistan’s most notorious regional warlords fled on Saturday as the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif fell to the Taliban and security forces abandoned the city in a headlong rush up the highway to the safety of neighbouring Uzbekistan. 

The rout of Afghan forces as Taliban fighters take one provincial city after another provides a stark answer to anyone wondering about the success of two decades of US-led efforts to build a local army. 

As the Taliban stormed into Kabul today, India has put in place contingency plans to evacuate hundreds of its officials and citizens from the Afghan capital.

Afghanistan's Taliban entered the capital Kabul on Sunday and Western-backed President Ashraf Ghani left the country, with the insurgents saying they were seeking complete power.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has left the capital Kabul for Tajikistan, a senior Afghan Interior Ministry official said on Sunday, reports Reuters.

 Iran said on Sunday it has prepared accommodation in three provinces bordering Afghanistan to provide temporary refuge to Afghans fleeing their country as Taliban insurgents enter the capital Kabul.

Taliban insurgents entered the Afghanistan capital Kabul on Sunday, an interior ministry official said, as the United States evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter.

The Taliban on Sunday seized the last major city outside of Kabul held by the country’s increasingly isolated central government, cutting off the capital to the east and tightening their grip on the nation as tens of thousands fled their rapid advance.

“We provided our Afghan partners with all the tools -- let me emphasise: all the tools,” US President Joe Biden said when defending his decision to withdraw American forces and leave the fight to the locals.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on the Taliban to immediately halt their offensive in Afghanistan, and warned that “Afghanistan is spinning out of control.” 

Afghanistan’s beleaguered president yesterday vowed to prevent further bloodshed, as Taliban fighters closed in on Kabul after routing his armed forces over the past 10 days. 

Brac International is relocating 12 Bangladeshi and two other expatriate staff to safe locations outside Afghanistan amid escalating violence in the South Asian country where the Taliban is closing in to control the country.

India’s Madras High Court has recently quashed the deportation of a Bangladeshi man.

Brac International is relocating 14 expatriate staff members, including 12 Bangladeshis, from Afghanistan amidst escalating violence and volatile environment where the Taliban is closing in to take control of the country.

Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said he was in urgent talks with local leaders and international partners as Taliban rebels pushed closer to Kabul, capturing a key town south of the capital that is one of the gateways to the city.

The Taliban pushed closer to Kabul on Saturday, capturing a key city near Afghanistan's capital as American troops flew in to help evacuate embassy personnel and other civilians.