Taliban forces now control 65 per cent of Afghanistan and have taken or threaten to take 11 provincial capitals
\nDUBAI
\nTaliban fighters captured the city of Ghazni on Thursday, the ninth provincial capital they have seized in a week, as US intelligence said Afghanistan\u2019s capital, Kabul, a few hours drive away, could fall to the insurgents within 90 days.
\nThe speed of the Taliban advance here has sparked widespread recriminations over US President Joe Biden\u2019s decision to withdraw US troops and leave the Afghan government to fight alone.
\nWith the last of the US-led international forces set to leave by the end of August, the Taliban has taken control of about two-thirds of Afghanistan having mounted an offensive on multiple fronts
\nFinding rural districts too hard to defend, government forces have withdrawn to protect Kabul and other cities, prompting thousands of families to flee the provinces in hope of finding safety there.
\nA senior security official said the Taliban had captured Ghazni, 150 km (93 miles) southwest of Kabul on the highway between the capital and the second city of Kandahar. The militants had occupied Ghazni\u2019s government agency headquarters after heavy clashes, he said.
\n\u201cAll local government officials, including the provincial governor, have been evacuated towards Kabul,\u201d said the official who declined to be identified.
\nFighting has also been intense in the southern city of Kandahar. The city hospital had received scores of bodies of members of the armed forces and some wounded Taliban, a doctor said late on Wednesday.
\nThe Taliban said they had captured Kandahar\u2019s provincial prison.
\n\u201cFighting did not stop until 4 am and then after the first prayers it started up again,\u201d said an aid worker in Kandahar.
\nThe Taliban said they had seized airports outside the cities of Kunduz and Sheberghan in the north and Farah in the west, making it even more difficult to supply beleaguered government forces.
\nThe Taliban said they had also captured the provincial headquarters in Lashkar Gah, the embattled capital of the southern province of Helmand, a hotbed of militant activity.
\nGovernment officials there were not immediately available for comment. Fighting had also flared in the northwestern province of Badghis, its governor said.
\nBordering Pakistan, Kandahar and other southern and eastern provinces have long been Taliban heartlands but it has been in the north where they have made their biggest gains in recent weeks.
\nEven when the Taliban ruled the country they never controlled all of the north. This time, they appear to be determined to secure it fully before turning their attention to Kabul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taliban forces now control 65 per cent of Afghanistan and have taken or threaten to take 11 provincial capitals DUBAI Taliban fighters captured the city of Ghazni on Thursday, the ninth provincial capital they have seized in a week, as US intelligence said Afghanistan\u2019s capital, Kabul, a few hours drive away, could fall to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n