Claim follows earlier fall of Herat with militants overrunning government positions
The Taliban have claimed the capture of Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city and the place where the hardline Islamist group first emerged in the 1990s, as its fighters rapidly extend their control over vast swathes of the country.
The claim came as Afghanistan’s third city of Herat, in the country’s west, fell fully to Taliban on Thursday with insurgents overrunning government positions and flying their flag over the city. With the Taliban in full control, they promised in a message to residents to “bring security” as its fighters fired into the air in celebration and as local officials fled to an army base in the city’s outskirts.
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