Taliban insurgents take control of tenth Afghan provincial capital

Taliban insurgents have taken control of a strategic provincial capital near Kabul, the 10th of the country's 34 provincial capitals in Afghanistan, following the withdrawal of British and US troops.

On Thursday 12th August, the Taliban said they had taken the strategically important Ghazni city, which is on the road to the national capital of Kabul during a weeklong sweep across the country.

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.