Taliban captures southern Afghanistan’s Lashkar Gah city: Live

Group seizes key southern city after claiming Kandahar and Herat, Afghanistan’s second and third largest cities.

The Taliban has captured the key city of Lashkar Gah in southern Afghanistan, a day after the group claimed control over Kandahar and Herat, the country’s second and third largest cities. Meanwhile, the United States and Britain say they would send thousands of troops to help evacuate their embassy staff in the war-torn nation. In Qatar, international envoys to Afghan negotiations have called for an accelerated peace process as a “matter of great urgency” and for an immediate halt to attacks on cities.