Afghanistan Plunges Into Uncertainty as Chaotic US Pullout Leads to Taliban Takeover

Violence dramatically increased in Afghanistan after the US and its allies started to pull troops out, resulting in Taliban* militants seizing vast territories.
On 15 August, the Islamist movement brought the country's largest city, Kabul, under its control, prompting other countries to evacuate their citizens from the war-torn nation over security concerns linked to the establishment of Taliban rule.
Check out Sputnik's photo gallery to have a look at the country, which has been mired in a disastrous conflict for 20 years and is now reaching what the Taliban has called "the end of the war".

* The Taliban is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

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A mass of people run towards a Kabul Airport Terminal after Taliban insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul, 16 August 2021, in this still image taken from video obtained from social media.

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Taliban fighters raise their flag at the Ghazni provincial governor's house, in Ghazni, southeastern, Afghanistan, Sunday, 15 August 2021.

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Smoke rises next to the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, 15 August 2021.

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Pakistan's flag and the Taliban's flag are seen in the background as people make their way to Afghanistan at the Friendship Gate crossing point in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan, 15 August 2021.

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A CH-46 Sea Knight military transport helicopter flies over Kabul, Afghanistan on 15 August 2021.

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Afghans crowd at the airport as US soldiers stand guard in Kabul on 16 August 2021.

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Afghan security personnel stand guard in front of a gate in the Green Zone in Kabul on 15 August 2021.

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Afghans wait in long lines for hours to withdraw money, in front of Kabul Bank, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, 15 August 2021.

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Anti-missile decoy flares are deployed as Black Hawk military helicopters and a dirigible balloon fly over the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, 15 August 2021. Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of the Afghan capital on 15 August and said they were awaiting a “peaceful transfer” of the city after promising not to take it by force, but amid the uncertainty panicked workers fled government offices and helicopters landed at the US Embassy.

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Taliban fighters and local people sit on an Afghan National Army (ANA) Humvee vehicle on a street in Jalalabad province on 15 August 2021.

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Afghans (L) crowd at the airport as US soldiers stand guard in Kabul on 16 August 2021.

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Taliban fighters ride on a police vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, 16 August 2021.

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Travellers walk to the departures terminal at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, 14 August 2021.

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A Taliban fighter stands guard on a street in Herat on 14 August 2021.