Update: Taliban seize more Afghan provincial capitals

Four more provincial capitals have fallen to the Taliban in rapid succession, meaning that 10 out of Afghanistan's 34 provincial centres have now come under the group's control since 6 August amid a fast, co-ordinated offensive that appears to have overwhelmed the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).

Local media reported that Faizabad in northeastern Badakhshan, Pul-e-Khumri in northern Baghlan, Farah in the eponymous southwestern province, and Ghazni in the eponymous eastern province were captured by the Taliban between 10-12 August as the government in Kabul continues to lose ground and US and coalition forces prepare to formally end their almost 20 year-long military mission in the Central Asian country by the end of this month.

The fall of Ghazni is particularly worrisome for the Afghan government as the city lies only about 150 km south of Kabul and along the major Kabul-Kandahar highway: a clear indication that the Taliban are aiming to close in on the Afghan capital.

There have also been reports of intense fighting in Mazar-i-Sharif, the country's fourth largest city and the capital of northern Balkh Province, as government forces seek to stem the rapid advance of the Taliban, who already control more than 60% of the country's 399 districts, with only 65 districts under the control of the Kabul government and the remainder still being contested, according to senior European Union officials.

A Taliban fighter (centre) surrounded by locals at Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of Afghanistan's northern Baghlan Province, on 11 August. The city, located about 200 km north of Kabul, is one of ten Afghan provincial centres captured by the Taliban since 6 August. (AFP via Getty Images)