KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan’s embattled president left the country Sunday, joining his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede fleeing the advancing Taliban and signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan.The Taliban, which for hours had been in the outskirts of Kabul, announced soon after they would move further into a city gripped by panic throughout the day as helicopters raced overhead to evacuate personnel from the U.S.
Embassy. Smoke rose near the compound as staff destroyed important documents. Several other Western missions also prepared to pull their people out.Civilians fearing that the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that all but eliminated women’s rights rushed to.