The Hindu Explains | Are the Taliban on the brink of victory?

Kabul could fall to Islamist insurgents sooner than many had expected

The speed with which the Taliban have seized Afghanistan’s key cities has triggered fears that Kabul could fall to the Islamist insurgents sooner than many had expected in May, when the remaining U.S.-led international troops started withdrawing. The Taliban now control at least 13 provincial capitals, including Kandahar and Herat, the second and third largest cities in the country, and are pressing on with their offensive. In many places, government troops retreated en masse, while officials handed over administrative centres to Taliban commanders in return for safety. The map showing who controls which part of Afghanistan is changing by the hour. If the government had controlled all 34 provincial capitals and more than half of the country’s 421 districts before May 1, the Taliban are now firmly in control of more than 60% of territories.