Taliban capture two major Afghan cities; Western nations send troops to evacuate embassy staff

The advance of the Taliban continues in Afghanistan with the insurgent group taking control of Kandahar and Herat on Friday. Several Western nations are sending in troops to evacuate their embassy staff.

Taliban insurgents tightened their grip on Afghanistan on Friday, wresting control of its second and third biggest cities while Western embassies prepared to send in troops to help evacuate staff from the capital, Kabul. The capture of the second-biggest city of Kandahar in the south and Herat in the west after days of clashes are a devastating setback for the government as the deadly Taliban insurgency turns into a rout of the security forces.