to be a bit safe, but in terms of how safe we are, and how this night, if we remain until the morning, it is very, very difficult to predict if we'll be here until the morning. and there must be so many parents like you in kabul thinking, do we stay inside and shelter? do we try to get out? and then what? exactly. that is the question on everyone�*s mind. it is the shock. i'm sitting here thinking, the ideas are just floating. i thought the americans had sent 5,000 troops along with the british, along with the canadians, and my question is did these 5,000 plus troops also leave? or at least somebody confirming whether this information is true? because all day long, rumours, information have been floating

around that it is hard to believe what to believe. and i hope that there is at least some responsible entity and party to at least tell us the truth so that we can deal with our life the way we want to but to keep us in this dark, is the most inhumane thing anybody can do on this earth. us troops, us helicopters have been getting embassy staff out to the airport. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has said that the mission in afghanistan was a success. what would you say to him if he was there in your hallway now? it was a wonderful game they play for 20 years and i guess, right before the end of 20 years, the game is over. and for us afghans, we are the losers, then, we are going to end up paying the price for whatever anybody,

both my country's political leaders as well as the international community leaders did in the past 20 years, and i'm now beginning to believe that the disbelief... i'm beginning to believe the rumours that people used to believe that all these political leaders are here for money and power and i kept telling myself that that cannot be true, that i thought and i believed that people still have values, but i think today the entire world proved itself that corrupt government officials end up making corrupt government decisions. the taliban have been, we have been speaking, in the bbc, to a taliban spokesperson at length, who said they will not be violence in kabul and there will not be violence against women. there is obviously an attempt by the taliban to tell the outside world that they have changed since the last time, that is. can you take any solace from that?

my experience of living here, working here for 18 years and growing old, literally, greying my hair, in this country, i'd like to believe what people say, but honestly, with the experience that we have experienced, particularly today, it is very, very difficult for me to believe anybody�*s words any more. and so i willjust have to wait and see. i really appreciate you talking to us about the situation that you are in and i hear you telling us that almost everything you have believed is falling away from you, that sense ofjust not knowing what you can believe any more. if i can add, i grew up in, partly as a refugee kid

in pakistan, a0 years ago, and my father and my mother were forced to flee this country at the time of the communist coup, and then we landed in america as i grew up in america, going to school there and i was always taught in school, and in the values of family, that truth and honesty is the virtue to hold onto, and unfortunately, politics in this very short time of politics i have seen, has certainly proved that in the political world, truth and honesty do not matter, so my advice to anybody, if i may not be here on this earth after now, please, tell all young people, if you want to live an honest and a virtuous life, do notjoin politics of any type. let's hear what people like rangina hamidi might face. earl?

let's hear what people like rangina hamidi might face.— let's hear what people like rangina hamidi might face. early we spoke to the taliban spokesman. _ he told us the transfer of power would be peaceful and women would be respected. their properties, their lives are safe, there will be no restraint on anything. we are the servants of the people and of this country. 0ur leadership had instructed ourforces to remain at the gate of kabul, not to enter the city, we are awaiting a peaceful transfer of power. when you say peaceful transfer of power, what do you mean? what is actually likely to happen? it means that the city and the power should be handed over

to the islamic emirate of afghanistan and then we will have an afghan inclusion, islamic government, in which all afghans will have participation. when you say participation, do you mean one vote, one person? what do you mean by participation? participation means that we will have, in the government, other afghans, they will be a part in the future government. but it will fall under the umbrella of the government of the taliban? the islamic emirate, as you describe it? yes, there will be, as i said, an afghan inclusion, islamic government.

will there be a delegation going to doha tomorrow to meet with mullah baradar? because there are a lot of rumours that he has arrived in kabul and the current president, ashraf ghani has handed power over to him. can you give our viewers some clarity on that, please? mullah baradar is here in doha, he has not gone to kabul, these are just rumours. there is also a lot of concern from women in afghanistan, in kabul, they have been writing to me, they have been texting me, they are concerned that you will reimpose the regime of the 90s back in afghanistan, where women could not go to school, where the girls could not go to school, they could not work. can you give us some clarity on what your plans for that? we have taken already many...of the country, and also, many provinces of the country.

there are hundreds of schools for girls in the west. there, the girl students are studying. they are there, there is no sanction on them, they are continuing their studies and they are going to schools, they were going in the past. in herat, for example, women are telling me that when they arrived at the gates of the university yesterday, taliban fighters told them to leave and that there would be instructions about whether they could attend university or not. that is what the fighters on the ground are telling the women of herat. what i'm telling is the policy, the policy is that women can have access to education and to work and of course, they will observe the hijab, that is it.

when you say, the hijab, do you mean a headscarf on the head or a burqa covering theirface? no, burqa is not the only hijab, there are many types. one of them you can change. before i go i want to update you on a couple of other stories we're following around the world. in haiti the civil protection service has had that the 724 people died in saturday's massive earthquake. the powerful 7.2 magnitude quake flattened homes, churches and schools. hospitals are overwhelmed, they need supplies and this disaster compounds the problems facing haiti which is already dealing with a political crisis following the assassination of its president last month. and a political crisis in thailand where anti—government demonstrators have staged a protest involving thousands of cars. they

are demanding the resignation of the prime minister of the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. infection rates and deaths from covid—i9 have soared to record levels in thailand. let's come back to our main story, the developing story of the day. news just in, reports that taliban militants are saying they have entered the presidential palace in the afghan capital kabul, they say they entered it after government forces stationed there accepted their call for peace. we have no independent confirmation of that yet but what is clear is that at the end of a tumultuous day the taliban are absolutely on the verge of taking control of afghanistan. we have more of this online and you can follow our updates online. we've heard taliban militants have started entering the capital and taking over security after local police deserted their posts. they have seized every other major city in afghanistan and we are now looking at talks on a new

government led by the taliban in afghanistan. thank you for being with us here on bbc news, we'll continue keep you updated in the hours to come. warmth and sunshine is in fairly short supply in the week ahead but whilst there was some rain in the book as most will be mainly dry but with a north—westerly wind it'll feed in cloud and with the wind it'll feel cooler particularly for the first half of the week. this is the first half of the week. this is the bigger picture at the moment. through sunday, slow moving fronts pushing across the uk bringing cloud, outbreaks of rain into parts of northern england, wales, south—west england and very heavy showers for more than scotland and we keep those going through this evening. for others a glorious sunday with blue skies and sunshine so very much mixed fortunes. this evening, we see those showers continue to slide their way across

scotland but much of the rain across england and wales tending to ease away with some of those showers moving into north—east england through the early hours so some clearer skies across eastern sides of scotland with temperatures down to 6-7. of scotland with temperatures down to 6—7. elsewhere with the cloud more like 12—14. here is how we start the new week. our area from the low pressure pushing across scandinavia with high—pressure building from the west, squeezing the isobars and a north—westerly wind to feeling cooler for all of us through monday. quite a lot cloud as well with some showers, most will be dry with the best of sunshine will be across the eastern counties of scotland. the temperatures, we have seen 23—24 in places on sunday, more like 18-20 seen 23—24 in places on sunday, more like 18—20 on monday, and some rain arriving into the west of scotland which will slowly slide across scotland could be northern ireland into parts of england down across the east coast as we head through the east coast as we head through

the early hours of tuesday. it is a similar pressure set up on tuesday, this area of low pressure to the east of us, high—pressure to the west maintaining that north—westerly air flow, west maintaining that north—westerly airflow, damp start west maintaining that north—westerly air flow, damp start the day across parts of east anglia in south—east england with outbreaks of rain which will pull away but in the wake, we are left with cloud with one or two showers and once the morning rain has gone from the east and south—east, many dry if rather cloudy with highs of 16—20. it is a cloudy with highs of 16—20. it is a cloudy picture in the week ahead, most will be dry, some small amounts of rain, fairly cool start to the week, turning warmer later but with a chance of showers at the weekend. goodbye.

this is bbc news — the headlines: the taliban are back in the capital of afghanistan for the first time in 20 years. the rush to leave kabul as taliban fighters enter the city. president ghani has also fled the country. the taliban say they want to prevent looting in kabul. there are reports of shooting in several parts of the city. the militants have rolled through the entire country in a matter of weeks. in a bbc interview, a spokesman says women will be safe — if they wear the hijab. the policy is that women can have access to education and to work and of course they will observe the hijab, that is it. helicopters ferry us diplomats from their embassy but the us secretary of state says the two decade long us military operation

in afghanistan was a success.