Pictures show fighters armed with rifles lounging on the ornate furniture at the home of General Rashid Dostum in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, which fell yesterday
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Taliban invade the palatial home of top Afghan warlord and US ally General Dostum
Taliban militants have seized the palatial home of a key US ally as the group marches into capital Kabul.
In recent days the fragile government has been overrun by the Islamist organisation, which this morning began to enter the capital.
Every other major city in the country has fallen, with thousands of fearful families displaced as they attempt to flee violence.
The home of warlord General Rashid Dostum was overrun by insurgents yesterday as the Taliban makes quickfire gains.
Dostom has been a key ally of the US for 20 years, fighting alongside Special Forces in the aftermath of 9/11.
The 67-year-old, who was Vice President of Afghanistan between 2014 and February last year, owns a huge mansion in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
The city fell to the Taliban yesterday, and this morning officials confirmed that insurgents had entered capital Kabul, where thousands of families have fled to in recent days fearful of a return to horrific violence.
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Image:
Twitter)
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Twitter)
Video shows fighters armed with rifles lounging on ornate furniture inside Dostom’s home.
Yesterday Atta Mohammad Noor, the former governor of Balkh province, said both he and Dostum were safe and blamed the fall of the city on a “conspiracy”.
“Despite our firm resistance, sadly, all the government and the #ANDSF equipments were handed over to the #Taliban as a result of a big organised & cowardly plot,” Noor wrote on Twitter.
“They had orchestrated the plot to trap Marshal Dostum and myself too, but they didn’t succeed.”
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Image:
Twitter)
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Image:
Twitter)
The Taliban claims it is negotiating the “peaceful surrender” of its opponents in Kabul and called on citizens not to flee.
But the Afghan Presidential palace says it is still in control of the city, stating on Twitter that gunshots had been hard at several points today.
Earlier today the Islamist group seized the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight, narrowing the area controlled by the crumbling government.
The US has started evacuating its diplomats and was sending more troops to help secure Kabul airport and the embassy after the Taliban’s lightning advances.
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US officials said the diplomats were being ferried to the airport from the embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district.
More American troops were being sent to help in the evacuations after the Taliban’s lightning advances brought the Islamist group to Kabul in a matter of days.
Just last week, a US intelligence estimate said Kabul could hold out for at least three months.
“We have a small batch of people leaving now as we speak, a majority of the staff are ready to leave,” a U.S. official said. “The embassy continues to function.”
No progress has been made during peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, backed by the US.
It comes after US President Joe Biden announced in April that American troops would withdraw from the country in a process which began in May and will conclude in September.
