Afghan Gov’t, Taliban in Talks on Peaceful Transfer of Power
Taliban troops surrounded Afghanistan’s seat of power on Sunday but promised not to attack as handover talks were under way.
The group said it has instructed its fighters to refrain from violence and offer safe passage to anyone wishing to leave Kabul.
“Until the completion of the transition process, the responsibility for the security of Kabul is with the other side (the Afghan government),” a spokesman for the group said in a tweet, AL Jazeera reported.
The Afghan government soon after signaled there were negotiations under way to avoid bloodshed in Kabul, and to give the Taliban control.
A source close to President Ashraf Ghani denied reports that he has fled the country, saying the president spent most of the morning in the garden of his residence in the ARG Presidential Palace with the first lady.
Meanwhile, Afghan Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said there would be a “peaceful transfer of power” to a transitional government, after the Taliban ordered its fighters to hold back from entering Kabul.
“The Afghan people should not worry… There will be no attack on the city and there will be a peaceful transfer of power to the transitional government,” he said in a recorded speech.
