Taliban takes Afghanistan’s third-largest city in onslaught as US troops evacuate Kabul embassy

While Kabul itself is not directly under threat yet, the losses and the battles elsewhere further tighten the grip of a resurgent Taliban estimated to now hold some two-thirds of the nation.

Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Ghazni, south-west of Kabul Gulabuddin Picture: Amiri/AP

The Taliban captured Afghanistan’s third-largest city and a strategic provincial capital near Kabul on Thursday, further squeezing the country’s embattled government just weeks before the end of the American military mission there.

The seizure of Herat marks the biggest prize yet for the Taliban, which has taken 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals as part of a weeklong blitz.