How the day unfolded as Taliban members entered Kabul

2:17 AM CST - Kabul airport closes

U.S. military officials reported that Kabul airport had closed to all commercial flights while military evacuations were underway.

12:42 AM CST - Taliban announce their intentions to reclaim government

A Taliban official formally announced that the organization would soon formally declare the nation "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", the title officially held by the country before the Taliban government was first overthrown in 2001, from the presidential palace in Kabul. The group also declared its intentions to "enable security" as Taliban members began entering multiple districts in the Afghan capital.

12:04 AM CST - U.S. evacuates acting U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan

The U.S. evacuated its acting ambassador to Afghanistan to Kabul airport and urged U.S. citizens in Kabul to take shelter as the Kabul airport reportedly began taking fire from Taliban members.

About an hour later, a minister from Germany announced that it would fly its embassy staff out of Kabul later that day.

11:45 PM CST - Taliban enters presidential palace

Reuters cited two Taliban senior commanders in reporting that the Taliban had entered the presidential palace in Kabul. Though Taliban leaders stated that they would not take the city by force and were awaiting a peaceful transfer of power, they also said that there would not be a transitional government and that the group expected a complete handover of power from the Afghan government.

10:42 PM CST - Afghan president agrees to resign, reportedly leaves the country

TOLO Newsreported that Afghan president Ashraf Ghani had left the country hours after the Taliban surrounded the capital city of Kabul. Reuters reported that Ghani "left for Tajikistan," citing a senior interior ministry official.

A representative of the Taliban said the group was checking on Ghani's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Russian news agency RIA reported that Ghani had agreed to resign amid a peaceful transfer of power.