Afghanistan-Taliban Crisis: Taliban Announces General Amnesty for Afghan Government; Ask All to Return To Work

The Taliban have seized power in Afghanistan after the US-backed Afghan government collapsed and President Ghani fled the country, bringing an unprecedented end to a two-decade campaign in which the US and its allies had tried to transform the war-ravaged nation.

In a Facebook post, Ghani said he had left the country to avoid clashes with the Taliban that would endanger millions of residents of Kabul. He reportedly fled from Kabul with four cars and a helicopter full of cash, Russias state news agency RIA Novosti has reported. Following this, at least seven people, who clung to a US Air Force plane to escape the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, died on August 16 in a melee at the Kabul airport, as hundreds of people scrambled to board flights in a desperate bid to get out of Afghanistan.

This included three Afghan nationals, who reportedly fell to death from the sky as they failed in their bid to flee from the country. All commercial flights have been suspended at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority has said in a statement.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has warned the Taliban of swift and forceful response from the US if they attack American personnel or disrupt their operations in Afghanistan. Earlier on August 15, the spokesman for the Taliban's political office told Al Jazeera TV that the war in Afghanistan is over and that the type of rule and form of new regime will be clear soon.