Taliban taking control of 3rd largest Afghanistan city – closing in on Kabul

The onward march of the Taliban continues, as a series of key cities have fallen to their control in a week of heavy fighting, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes, fearing a return to the insurgents’ brutal and repressive regime.

As of this morning, Taliban-controlled areas included eight provincial capitals it had taken since last Friday.

Today, Ghazni fell, just southeast of the capital Kabul and now, according to reports, so has Herat.

They are close to taking Kandahar, two of Afghanistan’s biggest cities, that would give the militants control over 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals.