PHOTOS: Taliban seize control of Kabul

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The Taliban seized control of Kabul on Sunday after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and its Western-trained security forces collapsed, in a stunningly swift overthrow of the Afghan government.

Taliban fighters were seen gathered around a conference table inside the presidential palace after sweeping into Kabul.

On Monday chaotic scenes unfolded at Kabul’s airport as thousands of Afghans rushed the tarmac in a desperate attempt to flee the country — and U.S. troops struggled to manage the evacuations of Americans and Afghans fearful of Taliban rule. At least seven people died at the airport during the chaos, the Associated Press reported.

People read front-page news of the Taliban taking over Kabul at a newspaper stall in Karachi, Pakistan, 16 August 2021. (Shahzaib Akber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
People read about the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul at a newspaper stall in Karachi, Pakistan, on Aug. 16, 2021. (Shahzaib Akber/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
The Taliban flag flies at the Ghazni provincial governor's house in Ghazni, southeastern Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. (Gulabuddin Amiri/AP Photo)
The Taliban flag flies at the Ghazni provincial governor’s house in Ghazni, southeastern Afghanistan, on Aug. 15, 2021. (Gulabuddin Amiri/AP)
Taliban fighters take control of the Afghan presidential palace after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. Person second from left is a former bodyguard for Ghani. (Zabi Karimi/AP Photo)
Taliban fighters take control of the presidential palace after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021. The person second from left is a former Ghani bodyguard. (Zabi Karimi/AP)
Map shows areas controlled by the Taliban. (Associated Press)
Map shows areas controlled by the Taliban. (AP)
Taliban fighters stand beside the belongings of Afghan security soldiers in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, Aug. 16, 2021. (Str/Xinhua via ZUMA Press)
Taliban fighters stand beside the belongings of Afghan security soldiers in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on Aug. 16, 2021. (Str/Xinhua via ZUMA Press)
Taliban fighters ride a motorbike along the street in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hard-line brand of Islamist rule. (-/AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters ride a motorbike along the street in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan’s 20-year war. (-/AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters stand guard along a street near Zanbaq Square in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters stand guard along a street near Zanbaq Square in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)
A Taliban fighter sits on the back of a vehicle with a machine gun in front of the main gate leading to the Afghan presidential palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. (Rahmat Gul/AP Photo)
A Taliban fighter sits on the back of a truck with a machine gun in front of the main gate leading to the presidential palace in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021. (Rahmat Gul/AP)
Taliban fighters keep watch along a street at the Massoud Square in Kabul on August 16, 2021. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters keep watch on the street at Massoud Square in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)
A Taliban fighter (R) searches the bags of people coming out of the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)
A Taliban fighter (R) searches the bags of people coming out of the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. (Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters are seen on the back of a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, 16 August 2021. (Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Taliban fighters in a pickup truck in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021. (Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Taliban fighters stand guard in a vehicle along the roadside in Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. (- /AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters stand guard in a vehicle along the roadside in Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021. (-/AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters patrol the streets of Kabul on August 16, 2021, after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. (-/AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters patrol the streets of Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021. Thousands of people mobbed the city’s airport trying to flee the group’s feared hard-line brand of Islamist rule. (-/AFP via Getty Images)
Thousands of Afghans rush to Hamid Karzai International Airport as they try to flee the Afghan capital of Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 16, 2021. (Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Thousands of Afghans at Hamid Karzai International Airport as they try to flee the Afghan capital of Kabul on Aug. 16, 2021. (Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters are seen on the back of a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, 16 August 2021. (Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Taliban fighters on the back of a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 16, 2021. (Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

____

Read more from Yahoo News: