CNN’s Clarissa Ward Reports Live from Kabul as Taliban Forces Enter Afghan Capital: The People Are ‘Utterly Petrified’

CNN’s chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward provided a troubling account live from Kabul now that the Taliban is on the brink of seizing control over Afghanistan.

Reporting from the Afghan capital, Ward appeared on Reliable Sources Sunday to tell Brian Stelter of how Taliban forces are marching into the city after President Ashraf Ghani and other government officials have abandoned their posts. She also spoke of the increasing frequency of gunfire around Kabul throughout the day.

It’s certainly fair to say that people here in the capital are utterly petrified and essentially have nowhere to look to now. President Ashraf Ghani has fled the country. He has left. He is no longer the president of Afghanistan. That obviously leaves a pretty huge vacuum that one can only assume the Taliban is going to fill. We heard a report from our colleague who was out on the streets earlier that Afghan Security Forces have taken off their uniforms, police as well, that they’re just wearing civilian clothing now. And so there is a sense of real concern that things could get chaotic on the streets.

As Ward spoke about the frantic rush of people towards the airport, Stelter asked if she would be able to get there herself.

“For the moment we would like to continue to report here, and we’ve put out lines to the Taliban to that effect requesting that we be able to continue to do our jobs as journalists,” Ward said. “There’s no sense at the moment that Western journalists are being targeted. I think the main people here in terms of journalists are Afghan journalists, who are absolutely petrified, particularly women journalists.”

The interview continued with Ward giving further details on the chaos settling over Kabul, and the U.S.’ effort to expedite the evacuations of people from the country. She and Stelter also spoke further about the threats journalists now face in Afghanistan, the safety measures Ward has taken, and whether the chaos is emblematic of a U.S. defeat in the country.

Watch above, via CNN.