WASHINGTON — The Taliban seized the presidential palace in the war-weary Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday, a dramatic development that marks the apparent end to a 20-year American era in the country.
The stunning revelation comes hours after Taliban insurgents pushed their frontlines into Kabul after a succession of shocking battlefield reversals, spurred by the exodus of U.S. and coalition forces.
Earlier on Sunday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country as Western nations rushed to evacuate embassies amid a deteriorating security situation.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who appeared on several Sunday news programs, fell short of saying that the U.S. Embassy in Kabul would effectively be abandoned. He added that a “core diplomatic presence” will now be headquartered at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The State Department said Sunday evening that all U.S. embassy personnel were safely evacuated by military helicopter from the embassy compound to the airport in Kabul.
“All Embassy personnel are located on the premises of Hamid Karzai International Airport whose perimeter is secured by the U.S. military,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
The latest revelation follows President Joe Biden’s order to deploy approximately 5,000 U.S. troops to Kabul to evacuate embassy staff. Meanwhile, the State Department instructed U.S. Embassy personnel on the ground to destroy sensitive information material ahead of their departure.
Britain, Germany and Canada also rushed troops into Kabul to evacuate their embassies.
In recent days, the Taliban made stunning battlefield reversals with now nearly the entirety of the nation under their control.
Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Afghan military, which has long been assisted by U.S. and coalition forces, the Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday.
Two U.S. defense officials confirmed to NBC News that the Taliban also seized Bagram Air Base, a development that comes less than two months after the U.S. military handed over the once-stalwart airbase to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force.
The group began emptying out Parwan prison there which has an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 prisoners, including hardened Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
In 2012, at its peak, Bagram saw more than 100,000 U.S. troops pass through. It was the largest U.S. military installation in Afghanistan.
Last week, the group captured Kandahar and Herat, Afghanistan’s second- and third-largest cities. The group also took the strategic town of Pul-e-Alam, a city that has one of the four main roads to Kabul.
