Taliban seize power in Afghanistan: "The war is over"

Transfer of power in Kabul: the Taliban have entered Afghanistan's capital and announced their victory in the presidential palace. They faced no resistance; Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country. There is great insecurity among the population. By Christian Walz

  • Taliban fighters in the presidential palace in Kabul (photo: Zabi Karim/Ap/picture-alliance)
    Taliban at the seat of power: after a surprisingly quick campaign of conquest in Afghanistan, the Islamist Taliban have declared victory. Just over three months after the start of the international troop withdrawal from the country in the Hindu Kush, they have occupied the palace of President Ashraf Ghani
  • Mohammad Naeem (photo: Sefa Karacan/AA/picture-alliance)
    "The war in Afghanistan is over," said Mohammad Naeem (archive photo), a spokesman for the Taliban political bureau. "We ask all countries and organisations to sit with us to solve all problems," he added. The shape of the future government will be decided soon, he said
  • Taliban flag hoisted on the central square in Kunduz (photo: Abdullah Sahil/AP Photo/picture-alliance)
    Symbol of the West's failure: in many places, the Taliban have already hoisted their flag – like here in the central square of Kunduz. The capture of the provincial capital in north-eastern Afghanistan a few days ago was a shock for the Western community. German soldiers had been stationed in Kunduz for ten years
  • Police car in the hands of the Taliban (photo: Reuters)
    In recent years, the USA invested tens of billions of dollars in training and equipping the Afghan military and police. With the surrender of government troops in many places, almost without a fight, weapons and equipment are now falling into the hands of the Islamists. Here, Taliban fighters patrol in a police vehicle outside Kabul airport
  • Afghan President Ghani (photo: Rahmatullah Alizadah/Xinhua News Agency/picture-alliance)
    Ghani already abroad: the Afghan president – shown here during a televised speech on Saturday – is said to have fled to Uzbekistan. Ghani had fled to the Uzbek capital Tashkent together with his chief of staff, the broadcaster Al-Jazeera reported, citing a bodyguard
  • Mass exodus from Kabul (photo: Khodaiberdi Sadat/AA/Getty Images)
    Traffic jams on Kabul's roads on Sunday: many Afghans are desperate to leave the country quickly. According to media reports, the Taliban have ordered that no one be prevented from leaving. Many people are also making their way to the airport on foot
  • Scramble at the airport in Kabul (photo: Tameem Akghar/AP Photo/picture-alliance)
    Several countries have called on their citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately. Long queues have formed in front of the counters at Kabul airport in recent days. The German government in Berlin is also pushing for the repatriation of Germans and local staff
  • Evacuation of Westerners (photo: Moritz Frankenberg/dpa/picture-alliance)
    Evacuation operation started: "We are now doing everything we can to enable our nationals and our former local staff to leave the country in the coming days," said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. German Armed Forces aircraft took off towards Afghanistan on Sunday evening to support the evacuation