made by his predecessor donald trump which imposed a deadline for us withdrawal and cut the number of the country's troops in afghanistan down to a bare minimum. he went on to say: "one more year, orfive more years, of us military presence would not have made a difference if the afghan military cannot or will not hold its own country. and an endless american presence in the middle of another country's civil conflict was not acceptable to me." the taliban have continued to seize yet more territory and are now in control of more regional capitals than the government. as we've reported, mazar—e—sharif in the north, has now also fallen to taliban fighters. it had been the afghan government's last northern stronghold. provincial authorities say security forces abandoned weapons and fled to the border with uzbekistan. our correspondent in afghanistan, secunder kermani, sent this report. this is the very centre of kabul. thousands who have fled fighting across the north now