Vikas Pandey
BBC News

Nasim Javid* says he is struggling to recognise his beloved city. He says most businesses and shops are shut and people have locked themselves up in their houses.

"It's an anxious wait for us and fear of the unknown has gripped us," he says.

Mr Javid says Mazar was one of the most liberal cities in the country and he is worried for young people who have grown up with many freedoms like cinema, music and access to education.

"It will be particularly hard for young women. I know so many female medical students who would make excellent doctors but now they don't know how they will finish their education," he says.

He also says that he has also heard reports of Taliban insurgents looting property. He adds that one of his relatives had an expensive car which the Taliban took away from him in the middle of a busy road. "They just forced him out of the car."

He says incidents like these scare him as he has "not been able to sleep for days now".

*Name has been changed to protect identity

The Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ukraine has - in a not so subtle dig to the US - put out a strong statement stating its intention to help its citizens and others leave the country.

It comes amid reports that "almost all" of the US embassy's staff are at the airport waiting for evacuation.

Image source, Getty Images

Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney has condemned both Joe Biden and Donald Trump for the "American surrender" in Afghanistan.

Cheney, whose father, Dick Cheney, was US vice-president when the invasion of Afghanistan was launched, has been a vocal opponent of her fellow Republican, Donald Trump, blaming him for the Capitol Hill riot on 6 January.

"The Trump/Biden calamity unfolding in Afghanistan began with the Trump administration negotiating with terrorists and pretending they were partners for peace, and is ending with American surrender as Biden abandons the country to our terrorist enemies," Cheney wrote, on Twitter.

"This isn’t “ending endless wars”. This is American surrender - empowering our enemies and ensuring our children and grandchildren will have to fight this war, at much higher cost."

Dawn has just broken in Afghanistan, and on this Monday morning the Afghan people face a very new world.

It has been a dark, frenzied night. Thousands have scrambled to the airport to flee while others without that option are resigned to life under the new Taliban regime.

Many have expressed their grief and sorrow online over the rapid decline of their nascent democracy.

BBC reporter Kawoon Khamoosh tweeted: "Kabul is like a nuclear heart full of anxiety...Miserable faces, desperate youths and families stuck in heavy traffics biting their fingers.", external

And many women in particular have expressed fear over what their future holds.

Shabana Basij-Rasikh, head of the only boarding school for girls in Afghanistan tweeted:

More the 60 countries including the US, UK, and Australia have issued a joint statement saying Afghans and international citizens who wished to leave Afghanistan must be able to do so - urging the Taliban to let them go.

"Those in positions of power and authority across Afghanistan bear responsibility and accountability for the protection of human life," the joint statement said,

It added that the Afghan people "deserved to live in safety, security, and dignity".

Image source, Getty Images

Former refugee Abdul Bostani, who fled the Taliban, speaks of his fears for his family in Afghanistan.

As we’ve reported – the situation at Kabul’s international airport is chaotic as thousands attempt to flee the Taliban who marched into Afghanistan's capital city yesterday.

The US has sent back-up troops to secure the airport with Nato forces. Its near-6000 soldier operation would be taking over air traffic control, the state department said.

Foreign nations are prioritising evacuations of their diplomats and citizens from the capital. But the US said it would also accelerate efforts to evacuate Afghans who had worked for them – like translators – as well as vulnerable locals who are eligible for special immigrant visas.

“For all categories, Afghans who have cleared security screening will continue to be transferred directly to the United States. And we will find additional locations for those yet to be screened,” the state department said.

But it’s unclear how soon that will occur. Eyewitnesses say there’s little order at the airport at present – they have reported near-stampedes to get on planes, and staff missing from check-in counters and security checks.

Overnight, the American flag at the US embassy in Kabul has been taken down - marking the final step in the evacuation of staff from the embassy.

According to an AFP report, "almost all" of the embassy's staff are already at the city's Hamid Karzai international airport waiting for evacuation.

The US has sent an additional 1,000 troops to aid with the process, meaning that 6,000 military personnel are on the ground at the moment.

An unnamed official earlier said that the rapid advance of the Taliban would not change its withdrawal plans.

Image source, Getty Images

The US military will be taking over air traffic control in Kabul as it rushes to get embassy staff out of the country.

A State department statement said that this was one among a number of steps to facilitate speedy evacuation of "US and allied personnel".

Just a reminder that this comes amidst the scenes of chaos we're seeing at the Kabul airport - as thousands are rushing to flee Afghanistan.

The statement added that the US would accelerate the evacuation of thousands of Afghans who were eligible for special viasas - saying that nearly 2,000 of these people had already arrived in the US over the past two weeks.

The BBC's video journalist Malik Mudassir - normally behind the camera - has now stepped on screen, providing real time reports even as the Taliban patrolled the streets behind him.

"I can just see them from here, patrolling the streets," he reported for the BBC's news at ten.

A video of Mr Mudassir's reporting has been liked more than 1,000 times, with many praising his calm demeanor even in the face of danger.

"Nothing compares to real-time reporting and he was brilliant," said one social media user. "Everyone must be terrified and he is so brave to do what he did. I hope he is safe."

In his report, Mr Mudassir describes how people in the city have been trying to flee - families with women and children among them.

"I could see them trying to get out, they looked depressed, devastated and defeated."

Image source, EPA

US leaders are conceding they miscalculated the strength of the Afghan army they had directly trained and supported for the past 20 years.

“We’ve seen that that force has been unable to defend the country and that has happened more quickly than we anticipated,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN earlier.

President Biden had expressed faith in the 300,000-strong Afghan forces left to defend the country as late as last week. The Taliban, in comparison, are estimated to have 50-100,000 full-time fighters.

But without the on-the-ground US support, reports are that government forces quickly surrendered to the Taliban advance in regional districts and cities. Officers vanished from checkpoints, while in other cases soldiers fled.

The Taliban claimed their first city Zaranj on 6 August. Within 10 days they then claimed all provincial capitals and were at the capital, Kabul.

There are scenes of utter panic and chaos at Kabul's Hamid Karzai international airport as tens of thousands of people try to fly out of the country.

People have been flocking there since last evening in a last desperate effort to escape the Taliban.

There were earlier reports that civilians had been injured on the tarmac as the attempts to flee at times resembled a stampede.

The 6,000 US troops tasked for security duty in Kabul will now instead be sent to secure the entire perimeter of the airport, reports say.

The US Department of State and Department of Defense on Afghanistan have said they are "completing a series of steps to secure the airport... to enable the safe departure of US and allied personnel from Afghanistan via civilian and military flights".

On 8 July, President Joe Biden poured cold water on the theory that the Taliban could swiftly conquer Afghanistan.

"The jury is still out," he said, speaking at the White House last month.

"But the likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely."

Yet, just weeks after this pronouncement, little of the country remains in government control.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that efforts would be made to provide visas to Afghan students who were earlier blocked from taking up prestigious British scholarships.

Chevening , externalScholarships enable promising students around the world to pursue a masters degree in the UK.

The Foreign Office had initially said the situation in Afghanistan meant the British Embassy there would not finish preparations in time for this year.

The decision affected around 35 Afghan students. Around half of them are belived to be women.

"We are doing whatever we can to accelerate their visas to get them over as well," Boris Johnson told broadcaster Sky News earlier.

MP Ian Blackford later tweeted that the process was successful.

If you're just joining us now, welcome to another day of the BBC's coverage of the situation in Afghanistan. It's just past 4:00 am there, and many in the country will undoubtedly be waking up to a completely changed country. Here's what's happened over the last few hours:

• The Taliban has effectively gained control of Afghanistan - meeting with little resistance as they made their way into the Afghan capital of Kabul - they have claimed victory
• The country's President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country - reportedly seeking refuge in Uzbekistan
• A Taliban spokesperson said the group sought a "peaceful transfer of power", adding that people in Kabul were "safe"
• But chaos has been unfolding at Kabul's airport as foreigners, Afghan officials and others try to leave; all commercial flights have been suspended
• Nations such as the UK, Germany, Canada and the US are using military planes to pluck their nationals out of Afghanistan, while scrambling to evacuate Afghans who worked with their troops
• Activists are expressing concerns for women in Afghanistan amid reports the Taliban are already forcing changes in some parts of the country

Image source, Reuters

After 20 years of war, foreign forces are pulling out of Afghanistan. It has been the US' longest-running conflict on foreign soil.

But why did the US go to Afghanistan in the first place in the wake of the 9/11 attacks? Why did they remove the Taliban regime?

Why has the war dragged on for so many years, and what has led to the Taliban's resurgence?

Our simple explainer takes you through it all.

Image source, Reuters

President Joe Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump has issued a new call for the US president to "resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan”.

He has also claimed that the US’ withdrawal would be “much different and much more successful” were he still president.

The Biden team has hit back saying that the US-Taliban exit deal was negotiated under Trump’s presidency.

However, exact details of the exit were left up to Biden’s administration. The BBC's North America editor Jon Sopel earlier wrote that the "policy may have been framed by Donald Trump but Joe Biden owns this unfolding chaos.

The pace at which the Taliban has taken control of the country has caused Mr Biden to come under enormous criticism. Officials in his administration are now admitting that they over-estimated the capacity of Afghan troops.

Secretary of state Anthony Blinken told CNN news that the fall of the country "has happened more quickly than we anticipated."

The BBC's John Simpson was in Kabul in 2001 when the Taliban were ousted.

Since then, commercial life has thrived in Kabul and other cities. Living standards have risen and schools have blossomed.

Now just 20 years later, the Taliban have made a comeback.

But what sort of country will Taliban-controlled Afghanistan be this time?

You can read John's analysis here.

A Taliban spokesman called BBC presenter Yalda Hakim live on air earlier.

In an interview conducted over phone speaker, Suhail Shaheen said the group sought a "peaceful transfer of power" in Afghanistan the next few days.

“We assure the people, particularly in the city of Kabul, that their properties, their lives are safe,” he told Ms Hakim.

In the wide-ranging interview, he was pressed on the Taliban's plans for the country amid concern the militants will impose strict interpretations of Sharia law, including corporal punishments and a ban on girls going to school.

As the US races to evacuate its diplomats, concerns are growing about the fate of local people who helped the Americans.

Newshour has been speaking to one man who worked as an interpreter for the US military. The man who does not want to reveal his name, says he doesn't have the papers that would allow him and his family to seek refuge in the United States.

He says he went to Kabul Airport today to try his luck - but when he saw the chaotic situation, he turned back.