Taliban fighters have entered Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

The militants are on the brink of taking total control, after rapidly seizing territory as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of operations.

Footage showed armed Taliban fighters inside the presidential palace.

Thousands of Afghans have sought refuge in Kabul in recent weeks and there were scenes of panic in the city on Sunday.

A Taliban spokesman told the BBC there would be “no revenge” on Afghans.

Western countries have been scrambling to evacuate their citizens. The US sent military helicopters to transport staff from its heavily fortified embassy compound to the airport.

However, the US Embassy later said there were reports of gunfire at Kabul’s airport. It warned US citizens in the area to take shelter as “the security situation… is changing quickly”.

It is almost 20 years since the Islamist group was ousted by a US-led military coalition. Their advance across the country began months ago but has accelerated in the space of days.

US President Joe Biden has defended the withdrawal of American troops, saying he could not justify an “endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict”.