KABUL: The Taliban swept into Afghanistan's capital on Sunday after the government collapsed and the embattled president joined an exodus of his fellow citizens and foreigners, signaling the end of a costly two-decade US campaign to remake the country.

Heavily armed Taliban fighters fanned out across the capital, and several entered Kabul's abandoned presidential palace. Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman and negotiator, told The Associated Press that the militants would hold talks in the coming days aimed at forming an 'open, inclusive Islamic government.'