Lindsey Hilsum , International Editor

Dozens of female footballers and their families have managed to escape from Afghanistan across the border to Pakistan, including one group who’d been in hiding after their homes were burned down and some relatives were captured by the Taliban. But there are entire communities left behind who are now living in fear, like the Hazara…

Talibs have now raised their flag over the presidential palace, heralding the dawn of a new era. And what that new reality means for Afghan women is now becoming clear. 

After 9/11 the Americans invaded Afghanistan and easily overthrew the Taliban, who had harboured Al Qaeda, that carried out the attacks. But after that nothing was easy. 

Thirteen Britons have managed to fly out of Afghanistan onboard the first international flight to leave Kabul since western forces pulled out.

International leaders have condemned the make-up of Afghanistan’s interim government, as the Taliban appointed a number of hardliners to the all-male cabinet, including one minister on the FBI’s most wanted list.  

The Taliban have named an interim government with a prime minister who is on a UN terror watchlist and an interior minister with a $10 million bounty on his head.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban says it has taken control of the Panjshir Valley, the last bastion of opposition resisting Taliban rule.

We spoke to the man who has become the public face of the Taliban in Kabul, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. We asked him why, in the light of all these urgent problems, three weeks after entering Kabul, they still haven’t formed a government?

The Taliban came into Kabul three weeks ago, but there is still no government. The economy has juddered to a halt, nobody is getting salaries and many things have closed. People are just desperate for money and work. There is drought, hunger, Covid and poverty, as well as all the issues with women’s rights and…

The Afghan opposition leader Ahmad Massoud says he is ready to talk with the Taliban and negotiate a settlement to end fighting in the Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul.

Heavy fighting has been taking place in Afghanistan’s Panjshir Valley where militia fighters claim they’re holding out against Taliban forces overnight, amid premature rumours that the Taliban had captured the territory.

Warning: This report contains distressing images.

In Kabul, the clock continues to tick for those wanting to flee Afghanistan. There was no let-up in the chaos at the city’s airport as families at the gates begged soldiers for a space on the departing planes. 

The message from the Taliban today was clear – all foreign troops have to leave by Tuesday next week. Joe Biden wouldn’t budge from that deadline either, despite calls from other G7 leaders for a delay to allow more people to be evacuated.

The Taliban insist it’s a hard deadline – all foreign troops must leave Afghanistan by next Tuesday.