Taliban have entered Afghan capital Kabul, news agency AFP reported quoting residents.
A Taliban spokesperson, however, said they have been instructed to stay at the gates of Kabul and not enter city.
The Taliban raced closer to a complete military takeover of Afghanistan Sunday after capturing more major cities, leaving only the isolated capital Kabul for them to conquer.
The armed group took control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday, just hours after seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif — extending an astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias achieved in just 10 days.
Pro-Taliban social media accounts boasted that its fighters were moving rapidly through the outlying districts of Kabul province, with the outskirts of the city in close proximity.
“Don’t panic! Kabul is safe!” tweeted Matin Bek, President Ashraf Ghani’s chief of staff.
Ghani’s government appeared to be left with few options as the Taliban effectively surrounded Kabul — either prepare for a bloody fight for the capital or capitulate.
The loss of Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad were huge back-to-back blows for Ghani and his government.
