Hello and welcome If youre watchIng In the uk or around the world. We begIn In afghanIstan, where the talIban look close to be capturIng theIr fIrst key cIty. Theres Heavy FIghtIng between the afghan mIlItary and the talIban In the centre Lashkar Gah, the capItal of helmand provInce. Afghan securIty forces In two other CItIes Kandahar In the south, and herat In the west are also tryIng to push back the talIban offensIve. The talIban already control large parts of the rural areas, but have been pushIng to capture cItIes as foreIgn forces pull out of the country. MeanwhIle, hundreds of people have been fleeIng theIr homes amId the fIghtIng. Our Correspondent Secunder KermanI Is In the capItal, kabul. ThIs Is the most serIous FIghtIng Weve seen sInce thIs latest talIban offensIve began. The group already had captured vast swathes of rural terrItory. Now, theyre tryIng to take theIr fIrst cIty and earlIer thIs evenIng, they made theIr way rIght to the centre of Lashkar Gah before beIng pus
This is the most serious fighting we ve seen since this latest taliban offensive began. the group already had captured vast swathes of rural territory. now, they re trying to take their first city and earlier this evening, they made their way right to the centre of lashkar gah before being pushed back by afghan special forces. in the last few hours, a number of air strikes have been launched against taliban positions there, too. the fighting, as you say, has also been taking place around herat in the west of afghanistan and kandahar in the south. caught in the middle of this, of course, ordinary afghan families. tens of thousands of people have had to flee their homes in recent weeks and the international military mission here will formally come to an end by september with the taliban looking emboldened, peace talks stalled, everyone s worried that in the coming weeks, the violence is going to get even worse. professor patricia degennaro is a security and policy expert on afghanistan a
This is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. fierce fighting in afghanistan three cities are battling the taliban. the taliban already control vast swathes of rural territory in afghanistan. now they re really pushing in on a number of cities, advancing right to the heart of lashkar gah, capital of helmand province. more than a dozen aid trucks have reached the capital of ethiopia s war torn tigray region. medical experts are warning that an oxygen monitoring device called a pulse oximeter works less well for people with darker skin tones. borisjohnson and his wife, carrie, have announced they are expecting a second child. their first child, wilfred, was born in april last year. and as jamaica s elaine thompson herah takes gold in the olympic hundred metre final, we ll look ahead to day nine of the tokyo games.