After capturing more than 20 Afghan provincial centres in a little over a week, the Taliban entered Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on 15 August in what appears to have been the final stage of a rapid offensive aimed at regaining control over the Central Asian country almost two decades after the group was toppled from power by a US-led coalition.

Taliban fighters entered Kabul with apparently little or no resistance shortly after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was reported to have left the country alongside some of his closest aides. Ghani later said in a Facebook post that he had left the country to avoid bloodshed.

Members of the Taliban patrol the streets of Kabul on 16 August after the Afghan capital fell to the group the previous day. (Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Local media reported that the remaining representatives of the Afghan government were in talks with the Taliban over a peaceful transfer of power.

After capturing more than 20 Afghan provincial centres in a little over a week, the Taliban entered Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on 15 August in what appears to have been the final stage of a rapid offensive aimed at regaining control over the Central Asian country almost two decades after the group was toppled from power by a US-led coalition.

Taliban fighters entered Kabul with apparently little or no resistance shortly after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was reported to have left the country alongside some of his closest aides. Ghani later said in a Facebook post that he had left the country to avoid bloodshed.

Members of the Taliban patrol the streets of Kabul on 16 August after the Afghan capital fell to the group the previous day. (Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Local media reported that the remaining representatives of the Afghan government were in talks with the Taliban over a peaceful transfer of power.

After capturing more than 20 Afghan provincial centres in a little over a week, the Taliban entered Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on 15 August in what appears to have been the final stage of a rapid offensive aimed at regaining control over the Central Asian country almost two decades after the group was toppled from power by a US-led coalition.

Taliban fighters entered Kabul with apparently little or no resistance shortly after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was reported to have left the country alongside some of his closest aides. Ghani later said in a Facebook post that he had left the country to avoid bloodshed.

Members of the Taliban patrol the streets of Kabul on 16 August after the Afghan capital fell to the group the previous day. (Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Local media reported that the remaining representatives of the Afghan government were in talks with the Taliban over a peaceful transfer of power.

After capturing more than 20 Afghan provincial centres in a little over a week, the Taliban entered Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on 15 August in what appears to have been the final stage of a rapid offensive aimed at regaining control over the Central Asian country almost two decades after the group was toppled from power by a US-led coalition.

Taliban fighters entered Kabul with apparently little or no resistance shortly after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was reported to have left the country alongside some of his closest aides. Ghani later said in a Facebook post that he had left the country to avoid bloodshed.

Members of the Taliban patrol the streets of Kabul on 16 August after the Afghan capital fell to the group the previous day. (Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Local media reported that the remaining representatives of the Afghan government were in talks with the Taliban over a peaceful transfer of power.

After capturing more than 20 Afghan provincial centres in a little over a week, the Taliban entered Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on 15 August in what appears to have been the final stage of a rapid offensive aimed at regaining control over the Central Asian country almost two decades after the group was toppled from power by a US-led coalition.

Taliban fighters entered Kabul with apparently little or no resistance shortly after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was reported to have left the country alongside some of his closest aides. Ghani later said in a Facebook post that he had left the country to avoid bloodshed.

Members of the Taliban patrol the streets of Kabul on 16 August after the Afghan capital fell to the group the previous day. (Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Local media reported that the remaining representatives of the Afghan government were in talks with the Taliban over a peaceful transfer of power.

After capturing more than 20 Afghan provincial centres in a little over a week, the Taliban entered Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on 15 August in what appears to have been the final stage of a rapid offensive aimed at regaining control over the Central Asian country almost two decades after the group was toppled from power by a US-led coalition.

Taliban fighters entered Kabul with apparently little or no resistance shortly after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was reported to have left the country alongside some of his closest aides. Ghani later said in a Facebook post that he had left the country to avoid bloodshed.

Members of the Taliban patrol the streets of Kabul on 16 August after the Afghan capital fell to the group the previous day. (Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Local media reported that the remaining representatives of the Afghan government were in talks with the Taliban over a peaceful transfer of power.