#Taliban seize Jalalabad, cut off Afghan capital from east

Kabul now stands alone.

The Taliban negotiated a “peaceful” takeover of one of Afghanistan’s last remaining free strongholds — leaving the capital of Kabul as the only major city left not under the insurgents’ control, according to reports.

Jalalabad was taken by the Taliban early Sunday, apparently not by force but through talks with elders who arranged a handover, a local lawmaker told the Associated Press.

The seemingly unstoppable insurgents posted images of themselves online in the governor’s office in Afghanistan’s fifth largest city.

With breathless speed, the Taliban have swept through the nation, taking down city after city while meeting almost no resistance, according to reports.

A day earlier, they bicycled their way into the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, once thought a sanctuary of anti-Taliban resistance with powerful warlords intent on defending it.

Instead, the warlords quickly fled, leaving virtually nothing in the path of the insurgents.

About 5,000 American troops were either on the ground or en route to the country in a bid to evacuate the US Embassy in Kabul, a city of four million. Thousands of Afghans fled to Kabul in an attempt to escape the Taliban.

Americans were rushing to get out of the country before the capital also falls, according to reports.