War is over, says Taliban as it takes control of Prez palace

The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan was over after the terror group took control of the presidential palace in Kabul as US-led forces departed and Western nations scrambled on Monday to evacuate their citizes.

President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday as the Islamist militants entered the city, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed, while hundreds of Afghans desperate to leave flooded Kabul airport. "Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen. They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years," Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for the Taliban's political office, told Al Jazeera TV. "Thanks to God, the war is over in the country."

It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the country after lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as Afghan forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away. Al Jazeera broadcast footage of what it said were Taliban commanders in the presidential palace with dozens of armed fighters.

Naeem said the form of the new regime in Afghanistan would be made clear soon, adding the Taliban did not want to live in isolation and calling for peaceful international relations.

"We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people," he said. "We will not allow anyone to use our lands to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others."

A US State Department spokesperson said early on Monday that all embassy personnel, including Ambassador Ross Wilson, had been transferred to Kabul airport to await evacuation and the American flag had been lowered and removed from the embassy compound.

Hundreds of Afghans invaded the airport's runways in the dark, pulling luggage and jostling for a place on one of the last commercial flights to leave the country before US forces took over air traffic control on Sunday. "How can they hold the airport and dictate terms and conditions to Afghans?" said Rakhshanda Jilali, a human rights activist who was trying to get to Pakistan. "This is our airport but we are seeing diplomats being evacuated while we wait in complete uncertainty," Jilali, who said she had received multiple death threats, told Reuters via Whatsapp from the airport. More than 60 western countries, including the United States, Britain, France and Japan, issued a joint statement saying all Afghans and international citizens who wanted to leave the country must be allowed to depart. "The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity," the statement said. "We in the international community stand ready to assist them."