Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zqe0jkqbbgraicy/VRP54087.mp4?dl=0
Footage shows hundreds of desperate Afghans flocking to the country’s main airport as they fled the Taliban on Monday.
Afghan air space has since been closed, with commercial flights from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul being cancelled. The Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority has advised transit aircraft to take longer alternative routes instead.
Taliban forces seized Kabul on August 16, settling into the presidential palace after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
A Taliban spokesman said the war was ‘over’ and that the militants have accomplished their objective or retaking the Middle East country following two decades of western occupation started by former leaders George Bush and Tony Blair.
Mohammad Naeem said: ‘We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people. We will not allow anyone to use our lands to target anyone, and we do not want to harm others.’