Taliban seize Jalalabad, cut off Afghan capital from east

The collapse of Jalalabad leaves Afghanistan's central government in control of just the capital and seven other provincial capitals

The Taliban seized the city of Jalalabad early August 15, cutting off Afghanistan's increasingly isolated capital Kabul to the east as the insurgents' blitz across the country continued ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from the country after two decades of war. The collapse of Jalalabad, which had been the last major city standing besides Kabul, leaves Afghanistan's central government in control of just the capital and seven other provincial capitals. In a nationwide offensive that has taken just over a week, the has defeated, co-opted or sent Afghan security forces fleeing from wide swathes of the country, even with some air support by the U.S. military.