⚡️ Sharana, the capital city of the province of Paktika, was captured today by the Taliban forces, local officials said.

The Taliban are in control of 19 out of 34 provincial capitals of #Afghanistan.

❗️Maymana, the provincial capital of Faryab has been taken by the Taliban.

⚡️The Taliban have taken Mazar-e-Sharif - the last major city in the north #Afganistan that was under government control.

A powerful earthquake has struck #Haiti, killing at least 227 people.
The 7.2-magnitude quake hit the west of the country on Saturday morning, toppling and damaging buildings including churches and hotels. (BBC)

🔴 Airstrikes reported on the outskirts of Kabul. Clashes were also reported. Still unknown what is happening on the ground.

The Taliban have occupied Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

🔴 Gunshots heard around the presidential palace in Afghanistan's capital Kabul as Taliban close in on the city.

The Taliban called on Afghan forces to "cease gunfire and allow for safe passage through the city [Kabul]" for all civilians and foreigners.

Acting Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said Kabul will not be attacked and that the transition will happen peacefully.

#Sweden will evacuate all its embassy staff from #Kabul, public service broadcaster Swedish Radio reported, citing sources.

The German foreign ministry has said it is closing the #Germany embassy in Kabul and asking German nationals to leave #Afghanistan.

An updated map of #Afghanistan. Few pockets are still under non-Taliban forces.

-> We will monitor also the presence of ISIS and the movement of Al-Qaeda operatives.

The situation at the Kabul airport is chaotic and dire. (video Saad Mohseni)

Military airplanes carrying over 100 Afghan soldiers have landed at the airport in the Tajik city of Bokhtar.

#Русия заяви, че „няма смисъл да се паникьосваме“, след като талибаните превзеха #Кабул и че „кръвопролитието сред цивилните е избегнато“.

Коментарите на Кремъл идват след изказване на специалния пратеник на Русия за Афганистан, Замир Кабулов. В интервю за ТАСС той описа талибаните като много “по-склонни да преговарят, отколкото марионетното правителство на Афганистан”.

An updated map of #Afghanistan [Aug 17 morning].

In orange are the areas with resistance from government forces that still have control over a dozen settlements in the north and east of the country.

#Afghanistan: Soldiers and clan fighters gather in the Panjshir Valley. They joined the forces of Ahmad Masood, the son of one of Afghanistan's heroes, Ahmad Shah Masood, who organized resistance against the Soviet Union and then against the Taliban in the 1990s.

Ahmad Masood probably plans to organize resistance forces against the Taliban. Panjshir is a logical place for this, given the fact that the area has historically been set up against the Taliban and they have failed to establish de facto control so far.

The US says military commanders at Kabul's International Airport in communication with 'Taliban commanders on the ground outside the airport'.

An updated map of #Afghanistan [Aug 18] Bazarak and Panjshir continue to resist the Taliban.

#UAE has welcomed #Afghanistan's ex-President Ashraf Ghani, his family into the country on humanitarian grounds: Foreign Ministry

#Haiti authorities said the confirmed death toll from Saturday’s earthquake has risen to 1,941 people. Relief workers reported being under-equipped in the aftermath of a tropical storm. They also voiced concerns about gangs blocking a major supply road, a symptom of political instability as Haiti continues to reel from the murder of President Jovenel Moise.