A day after seizing control seizing control of the
presidential palace in Kabul, Taliban have declared the war in Afghanistan to
be “over” and said it doesn’t want any further violence.

The Taliban are poised to return to power in Afghanistan two
decades after a US invasion forced their ouster in the aftermath of the 9/11
attacks.

President Ashraf Ghani and his close aides fled the country
on Sunday, which Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for Taliban’s political
office, described as a “great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen.”

“They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their
sacrifices for 20 years,” Naeem, the spokesman for the Taliban’s political
office, told Al Jazeera TV.

Naeem said the Taliban did not want to “harm others” and will not allow “our lands to target anyone.”

“We have reached what we were seeking, which is the freedom of our country and the independence of our people,” he said.

Ghani, who was dubbed a traitor and coward for fleeing the
country, defended his decision to “avoid bloodshed.”

Taliban fighters routed US-trained and equipped Afghan
security forces in a matter of just over a week as they swept through majority
of Afghanistan’s 35 provinces.

The US State Department Monday said it had evacuated all
embassy personnel, including Ambassador Ross Wilson, to the Kabul airport even as
the American flag was lowered and removed from the embassy compound.

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The airport witnessed massive rush of Afghans scrambling to
get out of the country amid an imminent Taliban takeover.

Over 60 Western countries, including the United States,
Britain, France and Japan, urged the Taliban to allow Afghans and international
citizens to leave the country.

“The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security
and dignity,” they said in a joint statement. “We in the
international community stand ready to assist them.”