Im kim blrunhuber. Were following Breaking News out of afghanistan where taliban fighters have claimed two of their biggest prizes yet, the countrys second largest City Kandahar and the capital of Helmand Province Lashkar gah. Cnn cant confirm this and you had then discity, but taliban fighters claim that they seized hundreds of weapons, vehicles and ammunition. Afghan forces appear to either surrender or flee. So the taliban now control 14 provincial capitals, harat, the third largest city fell on thursday. Meanwhile the u. S. Is deploying 3,000 additional troops to kabul to help evacuate american citizens. Lets bring in Nick Paton Walsh who is live in london. Nick, it is stunning since you and i spoke yesterday by my calculation four more provincial capitals have fallen, but the latest two Lashkar Gah, two huge prizes for the taliban. Speak to the significance of the lot of these cities. Reporter yeah, Kandahar Birth Place of the taliban under intense pressure over a matter of weeks
Including two that fell overnight. This rapid taliban gain comes just weeks before u. S. Troops are scheduled to finish a complete withdrawal from afghanistan. The State Department says Embassy Staff are also being drawn down to a core diplomatic presence. Let me be very clear about this, the embassy remains open and we plan to continue our diplomatic work in afghanistan. This is not abandonment. This is not an evacuation. This is not the wholesale withdrawal. The pentagon insists that even with the surge of troops,off all Military Withdrawal is still on track to be completed by the end of august. But many observers say this decision reflects the reality that the taliban is advancing much faster than u. S. Officials expected. Things are right now dire, the afghan government is dysfunctional. The Afghan National Army even some of the better forces are finding themselves surrounded. It will be an extremely tough fight, much tougher than many people thought it would be. International Secu
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