The Taliban in Afghanistan on August 15 entered Kabul from all sides, an interior ministry official said, However, the group issued a statement saying that they don't intend to take Kabul 'by force'.
The insurgent group has ordered its fighters to refrain from violence, allow safe passage to anyone seeking to leave, and request women to head to protected areas, the statement reads.
A tweet from the Afghan Presidential palace account too confirmed the firing saying that violence has taken place at a number of points around Kabul but that security forces, in coordination with international partners, had control of the city.
Earlier on the day, the insurgents captured the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight, giving them control of one of the main highways into landlocked Afghanistan. They also took over the nearby Torkham border post with Pakistan, leaving Kabul airport the only way out of Afghanistan that is still in government hands.
The capture of Jalalabad followed the Taliban's seizure of the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif late on August 14, also with little fighting.
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"There are no clashes taking place right now in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban," a Jalalabad-based Afghan official told Reuters. "Allowing passage to the Taliban was the only way to save civilian lives," the official was quoted as saying.
A video clip distributed by the Taliban showed people cheering and shout Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) as a convoy of pick-up trucks entered the city with fighters brandishing machine guns and the white Taliban flag.