Insurgents control more than two-thirds of the country and are closing in on Kabul
The Taliban’s seemingly unstoppable advance across Afghanistan continued on Friday, as insurgents took control of four more provincial capitals, having on Thursday seized Kandahar and Herat, the second and third-largest cities.
With Afghan government forces in disarray, and amid reports that the vice-president has fled, the Taliban are heading inexorably towards Kabul. They control more than two-thirds of the country, just as the US plans to pull out its last remaining troops.