Second city of kandahar. the city is the taliban s birthplace and former stronghold and taking control is a significant prize for the militants. other important cities such as herat and ghazni were captured within hours of each other on thursday. and the taliban have also taken lashkar gah, capital of the southern province of helmand, as well as qala i naw in the north. there are increasing concerns that the militants will continue their lightning speed offensive toward the capital, kabul, where tens of thousands of civilians have fled violent street fighting. our correspondent in kabul, yogita limaye, gave us this update. well, people are in shock and disbelief over what has happened just over a single day. five provincial capitals have fallen to the taliban, among them major cities. kandahar, this country s second largest city, a big economic centre. to the taliban, it is a traditional stronghold, so they will be looking at this as a major victory. herat is in the west of the country
For the afghan government five more provincial capitals have fallen to the taliban in the last 2a hours. the militants now control 1a provincial capitals and most of northern afghanistan. britain and the us are sending troops back into afghanistan to help evacuate their nationals. the taliban have made rapid gains sincejuly, taking considerable territory in the past month to look like this today. the militant group s gains have been rapid in the past few days, and indeed the past 2a hours during which taliban fighters have captured afghanistan s second city of kandahar. the city is the taliban s birthplace and former stronghold and taking control is a significant prize for the militants. other important cities such as herat and ghazni were captured within hours of each
This is bbc news, the headlines. the taliban claims it has captured afghanistan s second city of kandahar. if confirmed, this would place two of the the country s three largest cities in insurgent hands, following the fall of the western centre of herat earlier the united states says it s sending troops to the afghan capital, kabul, to help evacuate some civilian staff from the american embassy. but the state department insisted the us embassy in kabul would remain open. the head of the world meteorological organisation has voiced concern about the effects of climate change in the mediterranean region, after italy registered what s thought to be a record temperature of 48.8 celsius. there s also been extreme weather in turkey. kastamonu, a city in the north of the country, has been hit by flash floods after heavy rainfall. 17 people have reportedly died, with more than 1,400 people evacuated from the areas affected. this is bbc news.