Sgt Peter Rayner was killed in October 2010 in Helmand province after a patrol he was leading was hit by a bomb.

His wife Wendy has now come out and criticised the UK's decision to withdraw its citizens, allies and troops from the country.

"My husband died to give them a better life and by them not getting a better life, it takes away his fight," she told the BBC.

Image source, Getty Images

Pakistani border and security officers have clashed with hundreds of Afghans stranded on the Pakistani side of a major border crossing with Afghanistan.

Disturbances broke out at the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing on Thursday after a 56-year-old man died of a heart attack while waiting to enter Afghanistan, according to local media.

Protesters carried his body to a nearby Pakistani official, demanding the border be re-opened. Security officials then fired tear gas and charged at the protesters after they were pelted with stones. No injuries have been reported.

Chaman-Spin Boldak is the second busiest entry point to landlocked Afghanistan, and a main commercial artery to Pakistan's coast.

The Afghan side of the crossing was recaptured by the Taliban last month. Since 6 August, they have closed off entry as a protest against Pakistan's decision to end visa-free travel for Afghans.

The Taliban want Pakistan to allow Afghans to cross over with either an Afghan ID card or a Pakistan-issued refugee registration card.

A Downing Street spokesperson says Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair an emergency meeting of the Cobra security cabinet later on Friday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

Nato ambassadors are set to meet today to discuss the security situation in Afghanistan, according to unnamed sources.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will lead discussions, with one source telling AFP news agency that it will focus on planning evacuations.

The US and UK have already revealed they are sending troops to the country to help its nationals evacuate.

Freshta Karim, founder and director of a mobile library for children in Kabul, told the BBC there was a feeling of shock throughout the city in response to the Taliban’s rapid advance.

She told Radio 4’s World at One program about her overwhelming feeling of “grief” that her generation’s hard work could be “washed away” if they took control.

She described the Taliban as a “dark force” that sought to dominate the lives of women.

“They don’t see us as equal beings,” she said. “They don’t think we have any agency over our life so they can make the decision on what to allow us to do and not allow us to do from our appearance... to what jobs we can do.”

Ms Karim said the situation for Afghan women felt like a “lonely war” that the world was just observing and not helping with.

Image source, EPA

A former international development minister has told the BBC that the UK and its allies have "broken Afghanistan in a matter of weeks".

Rory Stewart said the UK, US and Nato's withdrawal of support from Afghanistan was "totally heartbreaking and totally unnecessary".

Image source, EPA

For those of you just joining us, we’re bringing you updates on the unfolding developments in Afghanistan.

Here are some of the events from the last few hours:

• Taliban insurgents have taken control in the country’s second-largest city of Kandahar, a strategically important and major trading hub
• They have also entered the provincial capital of Logar, which borders Kabul province
• One NGO in the country has expressed concern about civilian casualties
• UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has warned that the country is “heading towards a civil war" as the Taliban gain momentum
• In a statement, Mitch McConnel, the Republican party’s leader in the US Senate, has compared the situation to the fall of Saigon
• After the US and UK announced plans to minimise staffing at their embassies, Russia’s envoy to Afghanistan says Moscow has no plans to follow suit

Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent

The BBC's diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams explains why the UK is sending 600 troops to help get citizens out of Afghanistan:

It was always likely, this close to the end of the Nato mission to Afghanistan, that events would appear to accelerate. We are, after all, getting out.

But as they made their careful arrangements, planners did not necessarily anticipate the speed of the Taliban's advance, or the weakness of an Afghan military the US and its allies spent almost two decades building up.

What they wanted was an orderly withdrawal, with the Afghan government able to hold its own.

What we're facing, instead, is something altogether more chaotic.

Perverse though it might sound, sending troops in to get people out was always going to be part of the plan.

So too was the relocation of the British embassy to a more secure (and as yet undisclosed) location.

But the withdrawal of an unspecified number of embassy personnel, with the Americans making a similar move, is clearly being driven by events on the ground.

With US officials warning that the Afghan government could fall in as little as 30 days (a worst case scenario, it has to be noted), these feel like the crisis plans everyone hoped they wouldn't have to use.

Image source, EPA

Mitch McConnell, the Republican party's leader in the US Senate, has issued a statement saying Afghanistan is heading towards a "massive, predictable, and preventable disaster".

"President [Joe] Biden’s decisions have us hurtling toward an even worse sequel to the humiliating fall of Saigon in 1975," he said, in reference to the end of the Vietnam War.

Mr McConnell said the Biden administration's strategy had turned the situation into a "major embarrassment and a global emergency" and called for immediate support for Afghan forces.

"Without it, al-Qaeda and the Taliban may celebrate the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks by burning down our embassy in Kabul," his statement added.

In Logar province's capital, Pul-e-Alam, the Taliban are believed to have captured the police headquarters and city jail.

It may be another important victory for the insurgents, as analysts say Pul-e-Alam could open a path to the seat of the nation.

Lying just 50km (30 miles) outside Kabul, the city is seen as a gateway to Afghanistan's capital. Logar, the home province of Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, borders Kabul.

What's more, there is a direct road from Pul-e-Alam to the capital.

Frank Gardner
BBC Security Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Western intelligence chiefs are worried. They have good reason to be.

The hurried departure this month of the remaining Western forces from Afghanistan, decreed by US President Joe Biden, has emboldened Taliban insurgents.

In recent days they have seized one district after another, overrunning bases where demoralised government troops have often surrendered or fled.

Now, say observers, the spectre of international terrorism is making an unwelcome return.

"The Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan makes a Taliban takeover inevitable and gives al-Qaeda the opportunity to rebuild its network, to the point where it could once again plot attacks around the world," Dr Sajjan Gohel, a security and terrorism analyst, told the BBC.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Russia's envoy to Afghanistan has announced that Moscow has no plans to evacuate its embassy in Kabul.

Speaking with state news agency Tass, Zamir Kabulov insisted the Taliban had "no opportunity to seize Kabul in the foreseeable future."

On Tuesday, peace talks were held in the Qatari capital, Doha, between Afghan officials and members of the Taliban.

Mr Kabulov called for a peace deal to be agreed, saying the Afghan government to "must make up its mind and start meaningful negotiations."

Yesterday, in an interview with RIA Novosti news agency, Mr Kabulov revealed that Kabul had asked Russia to supply attack helicopters. Moscow is still mulling this request, he said.

In 2012, Corporal Jake Hartley was one of six UK servicemen killed when an improvised explosive device exploded under their Warrior armoured vehicle. At the time it was the biggest single loss of life suffered by the British in the Afghan war.

As the Taliban continue their advance, the BBC's Ed Thomas spoke to Cpl Hartley's mother about watching the recent violence.

If you have been affected by the issues in this story, you can visit the BBC Action Line.

The chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the UK parliament has accused the UK and US of "pulling the rug" from under Afghan forces.

Tom Tugendhat was reacting to news that the UK and US will deploy reinforcements to help diplomatic staff leave the country.

The Conservative MP said: "A hasty exit is not a sign of success. Needing reinforcements to keep the door open as you leave is a sure sign of failure."

Mr Tugendhat, who has been a vocal critic of the troop withdrawal, spoke of his own time serving with the armed forces in Afghanistan, and said "the decision to withdraw is like a rug pulled from under the feet of our partners".

Image source, Getty Images

As the Taliban advance, aid agencies are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe.

The UN says more than a quarter of a million people have fled their homes since the militants began their assault in May.

Eileen McCarthy, who works in Kabul for the Norwegian Refugee Council, has been speaking to the BBC.

"We are extremely concerned about civilian casualties as well as the large-scale civilian displacement that we've seen," says Ms McCarthy.

"Especially in recent days we've seen a significant surge of displacement of people travelling from across the country, fleeing the fighting and really arriving with not much more than the clothes on their backs," she adds.

Image source, EPA

The speed of the Taliban advance is taking many by surprise - with regional capitals falling like dominoes.

The British and US spent years training Afghan forces to prepare them to take on the militants.

So why have they managed to move so swiftly? Our defence correspondent, Jonathan Beale, has looked at what explains the Taliban's recent successes.

• Read more: How the Taliban gained ground so quickly

Sahraa Karimi, an Afghan filmmaker in Kabul, has given a powerful interview to the BBC about her fears amid a Taliban resurgence.

She told BBC Radio Scotland how it felt like the world had turned its back on Afghanistan and she feared a return to "dark times".

Asked if she was fearful for her own safety, the filmmaker said it was more about the fate of others.

"I am in danger - I don't anymore think about myself. I think about our country - our stories," she said, becoming emotional, "I think about our generation: that we did a lot to bring these changes."

"I think about young girls. It's is not just about me - I don't care about myself. I am just one person.. but there are thousands of beautiful, young talented women in this country."

You can listen to a clip below:

The Taliban have been making rapid advances since launching their offensive in May this year, amid failed talks with the Western-backed Afghan government, and the withdrawal of US troops.

The insurgent group now control a third of Afghanistan's provincial capitals, and 18 cities in total.

Among them are Kunduz, which fell into Taliban hands last Sunday. Home to 270,000 people, it's considered a gateway to the country's mineral-rich northern provinces.

On Friday, the Taliban seized the country's second largest city, Kandahar. It was once a Taliban stronghold and is strategically important as a trading hub.

Earlier, local officials told the BBC that the Taliban have also gained control of Pul-e-alam, the capital of Logar province. Logar borders Kabul province and there is a direct road from Pul-e-alam to the Afghan capital.

As the Taliban sweep across Afghanistan, here are some stark numbers from the last 20 years.

2,312 - The number of US personnel killed

20,660 - The number of US personnel injured

$776bn - The official estimated cost of US operations since 2001

456 - The number of British deaths in Afghanistan since 2001

64,100 - The estimated number of Afghan military and police killed, 2001-19 (Source: Brown University)

111,000 - Number of civilians killed or injured (Source: UN)

Pashtana Durrani, executive director of an education NGO that works with Afghan girls, spoke to the BBC’s Newshour programme shortly before the city of Kandahar fell to Taliban forces.

She described the situation in the city as a “humanitarian crisis” and was critical of the government's response.

“It’s all confusing right now. People don’t know what to do, where to go, where to flee,” she said.

The activist told the BBC she was scared for her life because of her vocal role in advocating for women’s education.

“The girls who we work with have already fled,” she said. “I don’t know where the students are and I’m personally scared about their life. What if they’re married to a Taliban fighter? What will their life be like?"