Taliban

In a statement, the insurgent group acknowledged that the fighters have no intention to enter the Afghan capital Kabul and will enter the city peacefully. The statement reads that Kabul is the most populated city of Afghanistan and the fighters are not allowed to enter the city and are directed to stay out of Kabul's doors. The statement was published hours after fear and panic spread in the city and people are roaming on the streets.

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, even though many continued to choose to wear the burqa in adherence to religious and traditional beliefs, its rejection by millions of others across the country became a symbol of a new dawn for the Afghan women, who were able to dictate what they wore for themselves again, Zainab Pirzad and Atefa Alizada from Rukhshana Media wrote for the Guardian.

"Warsaj district collapsed to the Taliban fighters on Friday evening and the security forces based there retreated to Panjshir province," the official told Xinhua news agency. The Afghan government is yet to confirm the development. With the capture of Warsaj district, the Taliban have completed its grip on northern Takhar province.

"If they (India) come to Afghanistan militarily and have their presence, I think that will not be good for them. They've seen the fate of military presence in Afghanistan of other countries, so it is an open book for them," Taliban spokesperson Muhammed Suhail Shaheen said as per media reports. He also denied that the Taliban has ties with other terror groups based in Pakistan.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Friday posted on his social media account that the insurgents captured Tirin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, and Firoz Koah, capital of Ghor province. He also said that most parts of Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province, has fallen to Taliban, adding that clashes continued at an intelligence agency office and two army bases in the city.

"We are certainly concerned by the speed with which the Taliban has been moving," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Friday in a press briefing. "It's deeply concerning." He said that the insurgent group is trying to isolate Kabul, while noting the capital city currently is not "in an imminent threat environment", Xinhua news agency reported.

The former officer had gone to visit a shrine when Taliban fighters set fire to her rented house. Meanwhile, piling on more human rights breaches, the Taliban killed the district police chief of Asmar in Kunar province. In Kandahar province, the Taliban have captured the central prison and hundreds of inmates have been released. The Taliban confirmed that they have released 1,900 inmates after taking over the prison.

In addition, they say, Taliban commanders have demanded that communities must hand over unmarried women to become "wives" for their fighters -- a form of sexual violence, human-rights groups say, the Wall Street Journal reported. The US Embassy in Kabul had said on Thursday that it had received reports of the Taliban executing members of the Afghan military who had surrendered.

In the video, Sherzad said that tribal elders and political leaders have asked him not to put up any resistance to the Taliban to avoid bloodshed, so he handed over the control to the militant fighters. The Taliban have toppled six provincial capitals in the past 24 hours, which brings the total number of provinces fallen to the fighters to 18. Kandahar, Helmand, Herat, Badghis, Ghor, Logar, Zabul and Oruzgan provinces fell to the Taliban.

The momentum is clearly with the insurgents, while the Afghan government struggles to keep its grip on power. This week, one leaked US intelligence report estimated that Kabul could come under attack within weeks, and the government could collapse within 90 days. The US and its Nato allies, including the UK, have spent the best part of the last 20 years training and equipping the Afghan security forces.