KABUL: Tensions are rising in the Afghan capital, Kabul, as the Taliban continue their rapid advance towards the city, BBC reports.
The militants have seized the eastern city of Jalalabad early Sunday morning, leaving Kabul as the only major city still under government control, according to the report.
It followed the capture on Saturday of the government’s northern bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif, it said.
The collapse of government forces has left President Ashraf Ghani under growing pressure to resign.
He faces a stark choice between surrender or a fight to hold the capital.
Meanwhile, the US said it was deploying 5,000 troops to help evacuate its nationals from the beleaguered country, according to BBC.
President Joe Biden has defended his decision to escalate the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying he could not justify an “endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict”.
Reports on Sunday morning said the Taliban took control of the city without a shot being fired.
“There are no clashes taking place right now in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban,” an Afghan official based in the city told Reuters news agency.
(With inputs from BBC)
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