Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Leaves Country As Taliban Forces Enter Kabul

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/15/ [login to see] /taliban-forces-sweep-into-kabul-as-talks-underway-on-transfer-of-power
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Taliban has left Afghanistan, just hours after the insurgency's forces surrounded the nation's capital city of Kabul Sunday — all but ensuring the collapse of the national government and a return to rule by the insurgent group for the first time in two decades.

Ghani and his immediate team have left the country, according to Afghan government sources speaking to The Associated Press, Reuters and the highly respected local TV network TOLO.

Ghani has been under enormous pressure to step down and Taliban leaders have demanded his resignation and a transfer of power to an interim government.

Earlier, Taliban and Afghan officials said they were negotiating a peaceful transfer of power, though reports from the ground indicate much unrest.

"There is an agreement that there will be a transitional administration for orderly transfer of power," said acting Interior Minister Abdul Satar Mirzakwal in a Tweet news agency TOLO posted Sunday.