Taliban to declare Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Kabul, Aug 15: A Taliban official says the group will soon declare the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the presidential palace in the capital, Kabul. That was the name of the country under the Taliban government ousted by US-led forces after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media.

Afghan leaders form council to meet Taliban

Meanwhile, Afghan leaders have created a coordination council to meet with the Taliban and manage the transfer of the power, after the religious militia''s lightening offensive swept to the capital, Kabul.

In a statement posted on social media by former president Hamid Karzai, he said the body will be lead by the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, as well as the leader of Hizb-e-Islami, Gulbudin Hekmatyar, and himself.

The statement said the move was "to prevent chaos and reduce the suffering of the people," and to manage peace and a "peaceful transfer."

Taliban takes Kabul

Afghanistan''s embattled president left the country Sunday, joining his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede fleeing the advancing Taliban and signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan.

The Taliban entered the capital early Sunday and an official in the militant group said it would soon announce the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the presidential palace - a return rich in symbolism to the name of the country under the Taliban government ousted by US-led forces after the 9/11 attacks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The militants had earlier moved into a city gripped by panic, where helicopters raced overhead throughout the day to evacuate personnel from the U.S. Embassy. Smoke rose near the compound as staff destroyed important documents, and the American flag was lowered. Several other Western missions also prepared to pull their people out.

Afghans fearing that the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that all but eliminated women''s rights rushed to leave the country as well, lining up at cash machines to withdraw their life savings. The desperately poor - who had left homes in the countryside for the presumed safety of the capital - remained in their thousands in parks and open spaces throughout the city.

Though the Taliban had promised a peaceful transition, the U.S. Embassy warned Americans late in the day to shelter in place and not try to get to the airport, where it said there were reports of gunfire. The embassy also suspended its own operations.