Ninth Afghan city falls to Taliban, Ghani in Mazar-i-Sharif: Live

Badakhshan province’s capital Faizabad becomes the ninth Afghan city to be captured by the Taliban since Friday.

The Taliban armed group has now taken more than a quarter of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals in less than a week. The group has captured nine provincial capitals in Afghanistan since Friday, including Faizabad, Farah, Pul-e-Khumri, Sar-e-Pul, Sheberghan, Aybak, Kunduz, Taluqan and Zaranj. The Taliban has already gained vast parts of rural Afghanistan since launching a series of offensives in May to coincide with the start of the final withdrawal of foreign forces.