United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the Security Council on Monday to “use all tools at its disposal to suppress the global terrorist threat in Afghanistan” and guarantee that basic human rights will be respected.

The Taliban entered Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani left Afghanistan on Sunday as the Islamist militants took over the country 20 years after they were ousted by a US-led invasion.

“We are receiving chilling reports of severe restrictions on human rights throughout the country. I am particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan,” he told the 15-member council.

“We cannot and must not abandon the people of Afghanistan,” he said.

Taliban officials have issued statements aimed at calming the panic.

Under Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001, women could not work, girls were not allowed to attend school and women had to cover their faces and be accompanied by a male relative if they wanted to venture out of their homes.

“Attacks against civilians or civilian objects must stop. The human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghan citizens, especially women, girls and members of minority groups, must be respected,” US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council.

Afghanistan’s UN ambassador Ghulam Isaczai told the Security Council he was speaking for millions of people “whose fate hangs in the balance,” including women and girls “about to lose their freedom to go to school, to work and to participate in the political, economic, and social life of the country.”

Isaczai called on the council and the United Nations not to recognize any administration that achieves power by force or any government that is not inclusive. He urged them to call for the immediate establishment of an inclusive transitional government.

The United Nations has about 3,000 national staff and about 300 international staff on the ground in Afghanistan. On Friday, the United Nations said some staff had been relocated to Kabul but that none had been evacuated.

“The United Nations presence will adapt to the security situation. But above all, we will stay and deliver in support of the Afghan people in their hour of need,” Guterres said.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia on Monday urged Taliban insurgents who seized Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, completing a sweep across the country, to preserve lives, property and security as stipulated by “Islamic principles”.

“The kingdom stands with the choices that the Afghan people make without interference,” the foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, said in a statement issued by official media.

“Based on the noble principles of Islam..., the kingdom of Saudi Arabia hopes that the Taliban movement and all Afghan parties will work to preserve security, stability, lives and property,”

It also voiced hope the situation would stabilise as soon as possible, as thousands of Afghans fearful of the Taliban thronged Kabul airport in desperate efforts to leave. Five people were killed in the chaos on Monday.

Fellow Gulf state Qatar said it was seeking a peaceful transition in Afghanistan and was doing its utmost to help efforts to evacuate diplomats and foreign staff in international organizations from the country.

Doha has hosted a Taliban office since 2013 for peace talks and has played a central role in trying to reach a political settlement in Afghanistan with the withdrawal of US troops.

“There is international concern about the fast pace of developments and Qatar is doing its utmost to bring a peaceful transition, especially after the vacuum that happened,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told a news conference in the Jordanian capital Amman.

Bahrain, current chair of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, said on Monday it would initiate consultations with fellow Gulf Arab states regarding the situation in Afghanistan, state media reported.