Image source, AFP

Mahbouba Seraj lives in Kabul and is a long-time campaigner for women's and children's rights in the country.

She told the BBC it served no-one if all the women left the country, adding that she was prepared to work with the Taliban to try to change things from within the new structure.

"If the women of Afghanistan, the ones that are involved and have been working - if we could sit down across a table and actually talk to these people, you know, they might be the clever ones and know that actually what resources they have in the women of Afghanistan because before this, before the Taliban, neither the world nor our republic really saw the strength of the Afghan woman.

"They never used us the way they were supposed, they never involved this the way they were supposed to. So hopefully these guys might. If they do, then we're OK. If they don't, you know as long as there is safety my girls are OK, everybody is OK, then I can be OK."

Image source, PA Media

The UK defence secretary has admitted "some people won't get back" from Afghanistan as a desperate struggle to get UK nationals and local allies out of the country continued.

Ben Wallace had previously said he was "confident" all British nationals would get out but became emotional while appearing on LBC radio this morning.

He said: "It's a really deep part of regret for me ... look, some people won't get back. Some people won't get back and we will have to do our best in third countries to process those people."

Asked why he felt the situation "so personally", Mr Wallace replied: "Because I'm a soldier... because it's sad and the West has done what it's done, we have to do our very best to get people out and stand by our obligations and 20 years of sacrifice is what it is."

Image source, AFP

Afghans living in Kabul have awoken to their first full day under Taliban rule.

The group entered the capital on Sunday, as the government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

Taliban fighters have been seen in streets across the city, while hundreds of civilians have flooded towards the international airport as they desperately attempt to leave the country.

Image source, Reuters

Farzana Kochai was serving as an MP and describes the situation now in Kabul.

She told the BBC the people were visibly frightened: "I don't know how to measure the [threat], fear that they have in their hearts, every one of them. They face a situation they can't believe is happening and they think: 'Where [do] we go, what to do?'

"Everyone is facing [the same] and here they think 'we might lose our lives' right just now because no-one is in charge of what's happening."

Image source, MOD

The UK government is confident it can get British nationals out of Afghanistan, with plans for hundreds more to leave in the coming days, the defence secretary has said.

Ben Wallace said he had received assurances from the Taliban military leadership via a Middle East country that the airport would be allowed to function, enabling UK officials and forces to help people leave.

He told BBC Breakfast 300 British passport holders had left Afghanistan on Sunday, with the government aiming to fly out a further 1,500 people over the next 24 to 36 hours or slightly longer.

"If we manage to keep it in the way we're planning to, we should have capacity for over 1,000 people a day to exit to the United Kingdom," he said.

"Currently, this is not about capacity on planes, it's about processing speeds, so that's why I'm trying to fix that."

More than 4,000 British citizens are thought to be in Afghanistan and the UK is also evacuating Afghans who worked for the British forces.

Eyewitnesses have told the BBC that at least two civilians have been killed as hundreds of people attempting to leave Afghanistan continued to gather at Kabul's international airport.

US troops, who have taken over the airport as evacuations out of the city continue, had reportedly fired in the air to scatter the crowds earlier on Monday morning.

Reuters news agency puts the death toll higher, with one witness saying he had seen the bodies of five people being carried to a vehicle. Another said it was unclear whether the victims had been shot or killed in a stampede.

Image source, AFP

The Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan, almost 20 years after being ousted by a US-led military coalition.

We explain who the Taliban are and how the group's fighters were able to advance so quickly.

A Taliban spokesman has told the BBC that the militant group is working to form a new government in Afghanistan.

The group has once again ordered its fighters to leave Afghan civilians alone, as it seeks to present a moderate face to the local population. Separately, a member of the Taliban's negotiating team in Qatar told the BBC last night "there will be no revenge" on the people of Afghanistan.

"We assure the people in Afghanistan, particularly in the city of Kabul, that their properties, their lives are safe - there will be no revenge on anyone," Suhail Shaheen told the BBC's Yalda Hakim live on air.

Many Afghans fear a brutal return to the regime of the 1990s, which was characterised by public executions, stonings and girls being banned from school.

You can watch the full interview here.

The BBC's Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg has been taking a look at Russian newspapers to see how they have reacted to the latest developments in Afghanistan.

Concern over the impact of the Taliban advance on Russia and Central Asian countries has dominated today's coverage, he says.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban has issued a statement saying it has finally broken the resistance at Kandahar airport and that thousands of Afghan special forces have surrendered to them.

The troops had been surrounded by Taliban fighters for the past three days.

Kandahar, which is located in the south, is the country's second biggest city.

While the Taliban's taking of Kabul sparked the US and its allies to evacuate from the capital, China and Russia have indicated they have no plans to close their embassies.

China warned its nationals to “stay indoors” and alert to the situation, but said it had asked “various factions in Afghanistan” to ensure the safety of its citizens.

Russia’s foreign ministry also told state media on Sunday that the government had no plans to evacuate.

Taliban representatives visited China in late July where they met with foreign minister Wang Yi. The meeting at the time was seen as an international recognition of the Taliban as a political force.

China's foreign ministry had said it would pursue a policy of "non-interference" in Afghanistan's internal affairs.

Image source, CHINESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that three people have been killed by gunfire at the passenger terminal of the airport on Monday.

The American newspaper cited witnesses saying they saw bloodied bodies lying on the ground.

The report did not say where the gunfire came from.

Vikas Pandey
BBC News

Zeb Hanifa* started her career as a PR consultant and writer in 2013 after finishing her college degree in the Balkh province.

Her first job "gave her wings to fly", she reminisces, adding that it was proud moment when she travelled to another country alone with the money she had saved. It was a proud moment for her mother too as she had never set her foot outside her hometown.

She says the next few years were amazing for her as got promoted and learnt new skills.

"It was like my mother was living her dream through me. But she used to have this constant fear of something growing wrong - she grew up in conflict. I didn't understand her then but I do now."

Hanifa was planning to take her mother on her very first foreign trip when the pandemic hit and now she is not sure such an opportunity will ever come again.

"I am broken. I am not sure if I will ever be able to work or do everything I wanted to do. There are so many young women like me - our dreams are shattered. And our hopes for a better future are fading fast."

*Name has been changed to protect identity

Image source, Getty Images

A day after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan's capital and declared victory, the streets of Kabul lie empty and deserted, according to reports.

Scores of carpet and jewellery shops as well as small cafes in the city's Chicken Street have closed down. Business owners say they've taken the step to protect their goods. Some are concerned about where their next customers will come from.

"I am in a complete state of shock. The Taliban entering that scared me, but (President Ashraf) Ghani leaving all of us in this situation has been the worst," one shop owner told Reuters.

Residents say that government offices are empty and the embassy district not far from Kabul airport is completely deserted, with diplomats and families leaving the country.

The Taliban has said people will be able to resume daily activities soon and one leader told Reuters that "normal life will continue in a much better way".

Image source, AFP

US troops are taking control of Kabul's international airport, as desperate residents try to flee the city following the Taliban's return to Kabul.

The US military has secured the site and is taking over air traffic control to evacuate American and allied staff.

But commercial flights have mostly been suspended, stranding hundreds of Afghans and other foreign nationals.

Footage shared online showed hundreds of people running towards the airport after the militants took control of the presidential palace on Sunday.

The US said it has moved all of its embassy staff to the airport to await evacuations, with nearly 6,000 troops sent in to assist in the operation.

Read more here.

Image source, AFP

Taliban officials have said that the situation inside Afghanistan is peaceful, with no clashes reported across the country on the day after the militants took over the capital Kabul.

"The situation is peaceful, as per our reports," one unnamed official told Reuters news agency.

The civilian government collapsed on Sunday, with President Ashraf Ghani fleeing abroad and thousands of residents and foreign nationals attempting to escape the country.

The Taliban has now effectively taken control of the country - but this earlier video shows life in one territory, when the group was just beginning to seize a number of areas.

In the town of Balkh, there's a conflicting picture of what life under the Taliban might look like. There are reports of a woman being killed for her "immodest clothing", though the Taliban have said they will not force anyone to wear the burqa - a full face covering. Separately, a man was reportedly made to walk without any shoes on until he fainted, for listening to non-Islamic music.

The Deputy leader of the Taliban says now is the time to provide for the people of Afghanistan and improve their lives.

The comments were made in a new video clip released by the militants, a day after fighters seized the capital Kabul and declared victory.

"Now is the time to trial, we will give services to our nation, we give serenity to the whole nation, that we will go as far as possible for the betterment of their lives," Mullah Baradar Akhund said to the camera while sitting amongst a group of other fighters.

"The way we have come through was unexpected as we have reached the position which was never expected," he also added.

Image source, Reuters

US troops were forced to fire warning shots into the air at Kabul's airport to prevent crowds of desperate citizens running onto planes, an official has told the Reuters news agency.

The official was quoted as saying: "The crowd was out of control. The firing was only done to defuse the chaos."

Gunfire could be heard in several videos on social media. The desperate scenes include crowds hovering around jets and clambering up staircases.

US troops are in charge at the airport, where they are reportedly prioritising the evacuation of embassy staff on military flights.

The US earlier said that it had evacuated all of its embassy staff to the airport.