Afghanistan

President Ashraf Ghani earlier flew to the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif - traditionally an anti-Taliban bastion - to try to rally pro-government forces. The removal of the country's army chief, General Wali Mohammad Ahmadzai, was confirmed to the BBC on Wednesday. He had only been in the post since June.

The Taliban armed group has taken control of Ghazni, the capital of Ghazni province, about 130km (80 miles) southwest of capital Kabul. It becomes the 10th provincial capital to fall within days. A government source tells Al Jazeera that the Afghan government has offered the Taliban a share in power so long as the rising violence in the country comes to a halt.

The warlords return to playing a major military role is a key part of President Ashraf Ghani’s national mobilization plan to halt the Taliban’s nationwide offensive but is raising fears that at best it will lead to Afghanistan splintering once again into dueling local fiefdoms, setting the stage for a prolonged and messy civil war, mirroring what unfolded in the 1990s after the Soviet withdrawal.

The Taliban has warned of more attacks targeting top Afghan government officials after an attack targeting the acting defense minister in Kabul and as insurgents continue their fight for control of cities across the country.

General Sami Sadat, who is leading the battle against the Taliban in the southern province of Helmand, called on people to leave its capital Lashkar Gah as soon as possible. At least 40 civilians have been killed in Lashkar Gah in the past day amid intense fighting, the UN says.

The State Department said thousands of Afghans and their immediate family members who worked for the U.S. government, a U.S.-funded project, the NATO-led military mission, or a U.S.-based media or nongovernmental organization are now eligible.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) strongly condemned an attack in its main compound in the western Afghan province of Herat on Friday that left an Afghan police guard dead and other officers injured. 

The Taliban will lose the international legitimacy they gained through their negotiations in Doha if the group does not fulfill its obligation to negotiate with the Afghan government for a political settlement to the conflict, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said Wednesday in Kabul. 

The United States will to continue to carry out airstrikes to support Afghan forces facing attack from the insurgent Taliban, a regional U.S. commander said on Sunday as U.S. and other international forces have drawn down troops in Afghanistan.

The United Nations has warned that civilian deaths and injuries in Afghanistan sharply increased in the first half of 2021, setting the war-ravaged country on course to witness the highest ever number of civilian casualties in a single year.