Fear and panic as Taleban takes over presidential palace

KABUL • Fears intensified about a return to the Taleban's brutal rule and the threat of reprisal killings the morning after the Taleban installed itself in the presidential palace in Kabul, seizing control over Afghanistan two decades after being toppled from power by the United States military.

There were scenes of desperation, sadness and panic at Kabul's international airport yesterday as thousands of Afghans flooded the tarmac. Images of people clinging to a departing US military plane as it took to the skies went viral. It seemed to capture the moment more vividly than words: A symbol of US military might flying out of the country even as Afghans hung on against all hope.

In scenes broadcast on Al-Jazeera, Taleban leaders ensconced themselves in the palace only hours after President Ashraf Ghani fled, taking control over what was once one of the most secure locations in the country. Though not a formal surrender, it might as well have been.

Early Taleban actions in other cities under its control offered a glimpse of what the future might hold. In Kunduz, which fell on Aug 8, it set up checkpoints and went door to door in search of absentee civil servants, warning that any who did not return to work would be punished.

The change in atmosphere in Kabul was as swift as it was frightening for many who thought they could build a life under the protection of their US allies. Some said the Taleban had already visited government officials' homes.

Fighters entered the home of one former official in western Kabul and removed his cars, and took over the home of a former governor in another part of town. There were also reports that fighters were searching for people they consider collaborators of the United States and the fallen government.

NYTIMES