US estimate of Taliban's Kabul takeover proves wrong, militants begin to march in to Afghan capital
Taliban have started entering Kabul from all sides as they have the city entirely surrounded, the Afghan Interior Ministry has said on Sunday, a Reuters report said.
The AP reported that Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital, further tightening their grip.
Top US experts had said that Taliban would take over the capital city in 30 days.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard in the capital, with three Afghan officials telling The Associated Press that the Taliban were in the districts of Kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman in Kabul.
Rapid shuttle flights of Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters near the US embassy began a few hours later after the militants seized the nearby city of Jalalabad. The US decided a few days ago to send in 3,000 fresh troops to help evacuate some personnel from its diplomatic post.
Fewer than 50 US officials will stay in Kabul, as core US team members in Kabul are working from Kabul Airport. In addition, according to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization official, several UN staff members moved to an undisclosed, safer location in Kabul.
According to a Taliban leader in Doha, the insurgents have been ordered fighters to refrain from acts of violence in Kabul and to allow safe passage to anyone who chooses to exit the city.