[IMAGES] Taliban claims victory at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Kabul

Kabul | Dozens of Taliban fighters have captured the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Kabul, claiming victory over the Afghan government, according to television footage.

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A rebel told Al Jazeera television from the palace: “Our country is liberated and the Mujahideen have won in Afghanistan.” Fighters seized the building after President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad, who acknowledged that the Taliban had “won”.

“Military units from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan have entered the city of Kabul to provide security,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter on Sunday evening. “Their progress continues as normal”, he said.

earlier in the day, President Ashraf Ghani was running away from the countryand explained the reasons for his departure.

The “Taliban won”, Mr Ghani said on Facebook, assuring him to leave his country to avoid “bloodshed”, as “countless patriots would have been killed” and the capital “destroyed”. He stayed.