Taliban fighters took control of another city in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, an official said, the eighth provincial capital to fall to the insurgents in six days as US-led foreign forces complete their withdrawal.
The Taliban capture of Faizabad - the capital of the northeastern province of Badakhshan - came as President Ashraf Ghani landed in Mazar-i-Sharif to rally its defenders as Taliban forces closed in on the biggest city in the north.
After a long battle in Faizabad, government forces retreated to a neighbouring district, Jawad Mujadidi, a provincial council member from Badakhshan, told Reuters.
He said Taliban fighters had taken most of the province and laid siege to Faizabad before launching an offensive on Tuesday.The far northeastern province of Badakhshan borders Tajikistan, Pakistan and China.
The loss of the city is the latest setback for the beleaguered government, which has been struggling to stem the momentum of Taliban assaults in the last few months.
The Taliban are battling to defeat the US-backed government and the speed of their advance has shocked the government and its allies.
Taliban forces now control 65% of Afghanistan, have taken or threaten to take 11 provincial capitals and seek to deprive Kabul of its traditional support from national forces in the north, a senior European Union official said on Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden urged Afghan leaders to fight for their homeland, saying on Tuesday he did not regret his decision to withdraw, noting that the United States had spent more than $1 trillion over 20 years and lost thousands of troops.
The United States was providing significant air support, food, equipment and salaries to Afghan forces, he said.
The north was for years Afghanistan's most peaceful region, with only a minimal Taliban presence.
During their 1996 to 2001 rule, the Taliban were never completely in control of the north but this time, they seem intent on securing it before closing in on the capital.
Regional appeal
The Afghan government has withdrawn from hard-to-defend rural districts to focus on holding population centres. In some places, government forces have given up without a fight.
Ghani is now appealing for help from the old regional powerbrokers he spent years sidelining as he attempted to project the authority of his central government over traditionally wayward provinces.
He will meet key regional leaders in Mazar-i-Sharif.
"President Ghani is scheduled to meet local government and security officials, political and jihadi leaders, tribal elders and influential people," the presidential office said on Twitter.
In the south, government forces are battling Taliban fighters trying to reach Kandahar province's main prison to release detained comrades, officials there said.