Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said he was in urgent talks with local leaders and international partners as Taliban rebels pushed closer to Kabul, capturing a key town south of the capital that is one of the gateways to the city.

The Taliban pushed closer to Kabul on Saturday, capturing a key city near Afghanistan's capital as American troops flew in to help evacuate embassy personnel and other civilians.

A day ahead of India’s 75th Independence Day, the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said August 14 would be observed as “Partition Horrors Remembrance Day” in memory of the struggles and sacrifices of the people.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called on the Taliban to immediately halt their offensive in Afghanistan, and warned that "Afghanistan is spinning out of control."

The Taliban seized more major cities yesterday as they raced to take full control of Afghanistan and inched closer to Kabul, with the United States and Britain deploying thousands of troops to evacuate their citizens from the capital. 

1945 - Japan accepted the Allies’ terms of unconditional surrender, ending World War Two.

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin made a plea yesterday to opposition lawmakers to support him in an upcoming confidence vote, in a bid to shore up his government and prevent an election amid a resurgence in Covid-19 infections.

The Afghan government should engage with the Taliban to reach an inclusive settlement, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday as the militant group made rapid gains amid spiralling violence and worries of a refugee crisis.

The Taliban claimed control over two of Afghanistan's biggest cities on Thursday, according to media reports, as the United States and Britain said they would send thousands of troops to help evacuate their embassy staff.

The Afghanistan government has made a power-sharing proposal to the Taliban in exchange for a halt in the escalating violence in the country, media reports said yesterday, as the insurgents seized the strategic cities of Ghazni, just 150 kilometres from Kabul, and Herat, the country’s third-largest city. 

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused the United States of seeing his country as useful only in the context of the “mess” it is leaving behind in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting.

The United States on Thursday urged U.S. citizens to leave Afghanistan immediately using available commercial flight options, a notice on the website of U.S. Embassy in Kabul said, amid a speedy Taliban advance across the country.

Amid rapid gains by the Taliban and after they took control of the 10th provincial capital of Afghanistan, the Ghani administration has offered them a share in power, Pakistani media ARY news reports quoting Afghan media.

The Taliban on Wednesday denied targeting and killing civilians during an offensive against Afghan government troops, calling for an independent investigation and seeking to assure Afghans that "no home or family shall face any threat from our side."

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused the United States of seeing his country as useful only in the context of the "mess" it is leaving behind in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting.

Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan's capital in 30 days and possibly take it over in 90, a U.S. defence official told Reuters on Wednesday citing U.S. intelligence, as militants took control of an eighth provincial Afghan capital.

1966 - A treaty to end three years of hostilities between Malaysia and Indonesia was signed in Jakarta.

The Taliban seized another Afghan provincial capital yesterday -- the seventh in less than a week -- as tens of thousands of people fled their homes in the north for the relative safety of Kabul and other centres.

Myanmar’s junta had “nothing to do” with an alleged plot to attack the country’s ambassador to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun, who has defied the military and backed the pro-democracy movement, state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said yesterday.

India today asked all citizens living in and around Afghanistan’s third largest city Mazar-e-Sharif to return home by a special flight this evening, amidst reports that the Taliban are preparing to launch an attack to capture the city.