Type of rule and the form of regime will be clear soon, says spokesperson for Taliban political office; Ashraf Ghani leaves the country; all US Embassy personnel evacuated to airport, says state department. Follow the latest updates
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Afghan president Ashraf Ghani is now believed to be in Uzbekistan after leaving the presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday to the insurgent Taliban fighters, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed. Reuters reports the 72-year-old had become an increasingly isolated figure who had an uneasy relationship with the West.
A trained anthropologist, Ghani holds a doctorate from New York City’s Columbia University. He spent almost a quarter of a century outside Afghanistan during the tumultuous decades of Soviet rule, civil war and the Taliban’s years in power.
It is just after 7am in Kabul, where lot has happened in the last few hours. Here is recap: