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Germany's interior minister has said his country must act quickly to help Afghans who work for its military.

"Whether charter flights or issuing visas after arrival in Germany, I support all measures that enable our local support staff and their families to leave the country quickly," Horst Seehofer said in a statement, according to Reuters news agency.

The situation in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly threatening," he added. "There is no time for bureaucracy, we must act".

Yesterday Germany revealed that it was suspending deportations for Afghan migrants whose visa applications had been rejected.

Neighbouring France and the Netherlands have already done the same.

Meanwhile Ukraine has become the latest European country to announce that it's working to evacuate its citizens from Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said there were between 50 and 100 Ukrainians in the country.

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A militia commander who had been leading the fight against the Taliban has been detained by the militants after they seized the city of Herat, local officials say.

Mohammad Ismail Khan, nicknamed the Lion of Herat, is one of Afghanistan's most famous warlords. Videos posted on social media show him being held by the Taliban. The group have released an interview with him, although it is not clear if it was conducted under duress.

If confirmed, this would be a huge blow to the Afghan government in its fight against the militants.

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The Taliban were removed from power in 2001 after an invasion by US and allied forces.

Back then, the US was responding to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Officials identified Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, and its leader Osama Bin Laden, as responsible. Bin Laden was in Afghanistan, under the protection of the Taliban, the Islamists who had been in power since 1996.

When the Taliban refused to hand him over, the US intervened militarily, quickly removing the Taliban and vowing to support democracy and eliminate the terrorist threat.

Read more here.

Twenty years since the UK and US invaded Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, many have been left wondering what difference their campaign might have made.

Since 2001, more than 150,000 British servicemen and women have served in Afghanistan, according to the UK government.

The first troops were deployed on the ground in November 2001, driving the Taliban from its last stronghold of Kandahar by December.

In 2006 British troops arrived in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold in the south of the country.

Their initial mission was to support reconstruction projects, but they were quickly drawn into combat operations.

Camp Bastion in Helmand became the base of British Operation Herrick against Taliban insurgents, with 9,500 troops stationed there.

More than 450 British troops lost their lives in Afghanistan over the course of the conflict.

In October 2014, British combat operations ended, as Camp Bastion was handed over to Afghan forces. But a contingent of troops remained to "train, advise and assist" the Afghan army.

By July 2020, the majority of the UK's remaining 750 troops had withdrawn.

Afghan interpreters who worked with British forces are being relocated to the UK, as the Taliban advance in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of Afghans worked with British forces as interpreters and support staff, and it's feared they may now be targeted by militants.

Not all interpreters are eligible for resettlement. Those who were dismissed from service will not qualify.

The BBC heard from one newly arrived interpreter, who is maintaining anonymity for safety reasons.

Rory Stewart, the UK’s former minister for international development, has criticised the international withdrawal from Afghanistan as a "completely unnecessary, dangerous decision".

Speaking to Sky News on Friday, he described the action as "totally shameful" and a "betrayal" of the Afghan people.

"There are going to be millions of Afghans in horrifying conditions - it’s going to be heartbreaking. There will be millions of refugees," he said.

The former minister, who has travelled extensively in the country and set up an NGO there back in 2005, also called for an increase in international assistance.

"We’re going to end up with terrorists but above all, we’re going to end up with people in real misery so we’re going to have to radically increase our development spending," he said.

"And Europe and the US is going to have to expect to take on a lot of refugees and we ought to, because this is our fault."

Food shortages in Afghanistan are "quite dire", the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has said, according to Reuters news agency. The situation has all the humanitarian catastrophe, the WFP has said.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has also called on Afghanistan's neighbours to keep their borders open to those fleeing the Taliban.

Thousands of people have been seeking safety in the capital Kabul.

When they get there, many face sleeping in abandoned warehouses or on the streets. They're struggling to find food, shelter and other basic necessities, such as medicine and sanitary items.

But they feel they have little choice - it is either hardship in Kabul, or potential death in their home region.

The BBC spoke to some of those who've gathered in makeshift camps on scrubland on the city's outskirts.

"We had a good life, but because of the bomb blasts, we lost our home and came here," said one woman, who didn't wish to be named. "We left our home with only one dress and no money."

Read more here.

Tens of thousands of ordinary Afghans have had to flee their homes – with hundreds killed or injured in recent weeks – as Taliban insurgents continue to gain ground.

As foreign troops withdraw, many Afghans fear a brutal return to the regime of the 1990s, which was characterised by public executions, stonings and girls being banned from school.

But what do the Taliban want from Afghanistan now?

The BBC's Yalda Hakim has been to speak to two high-profile figures in its chain of command – and heard two very different messages.

The BBC's Yalda Hakim has been sharing messages from women in Afghanistan who are fearful of the Taliban's advance.

After the fundamentalist Islamist militia was driven out of power, women were able to take on a greater role in public life.

The country has seen progress in terms of women's rights, education, and workforce representation in the last 20 years. Many now fear these hard-fought gains will be reversed under Taliban rule.

Women working in prominent fields like journalism and law enforcement are among those who have been targeted in assassination attacks since peace talks began last year.

One women's rights activist in Kandahar, speaking anonymously to the Reuters news agency, said she feared gender-based restrictions would return.

"We can no longer talk about women's rights. We are returning to a dark time where there is no hope," she said.

Two provincial council members have confirmed to the BBC that the Taliban have entered Pul-e-alam, the provincial capital of Logar province.

Logar borders Kabul province and there is a direct road from Pul-e-alam to the Afghan capital.

The Taliban have taken the police headquarters and fierce fighting is ongoing.

There are multiple reports that Urozgan province, between Kandahar and Kabul, has also fallen.

Fourteen provincial capitals out of 34 are now confirmed to be in Taliban hands, while at least another two are currently on the brink of falling.

Yogita Limaye
BBC India correspondent

People are in disbelief about what happened on Thursday. Five more provincial capitals – among them major cities – have fallen to the Taliban.

In Kabul, thousands of people have been arriving, but this is a number that changes by the hour.

They left their homes with very few belongings. These are people, who had homes and jobs, and shops and farms. They just had to leave everything behind and run to safety.

Some of them have taken days to reach Kabul, and these are dangerous journeys – past Taliban checkpoints and active front lines.

This is the last place many of them believe they can go. They say: from here, where else do we run?

They are angry at the government about being left to fend for themselves.

The government says it is going to house them in mosques and provide them with humanitarian relief – but there is not enough for everyone who is coming in.

There’s anger too that the US and UK are evacuating their own citizens and leaving Afghans to their fate.

Afghanistan still hopes that a political settlement with the Taliban might be possible, its ambassador to the US has said.

Adela Raz told BBC World News that the government and its people were ready for a political settlement.

"There is no deal yet but we are not giving up hope, we are not giving up hope on peace, we are not giving up hope on prosperity and stability."

The ambassador said any power-sharing deal would have to ensure equal constitutional rights for men, women and minorities, and a representative democracy.

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has been speaking about the situation in Afghanistan this morning.

He told on BBC Breakfast he believed the country was "heading towards a civil war" as the Taliban gain momentum.

Mr Wallace expressed concern that the developments could lead to a rise in poverty and terrorist activities throughout the country.

He described former President Donald Trump's agreement with the Taliban as a "rotten deal" that potentially undermined the Afghan government.

"We as international partners found it uncomfortable because we had deployed through a US framework...so when they pulled that framework, we had to leave."

It light of the Taliban's advances, the UK government has said it's sending 600 troops to Afghanistan.

The military personnel will provide protection and help relocate UK nationals, Afghan staff and interpreters.

It is estimated that about 4,000 British citizens are still in the country.

Last week the Foreign Office advised all British nationals to leave.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

In less than a week, the Taliban have taken over a third of Afghanistan’s provincial capitals, advancing at an unexpectedly rapid pace.

Afghan forces say they are battling to regain control of some of the cities, and the US has been launching air strikes in some parts of the country.

The violence has resulted in an acute humanitarian crisis – tens of thousands displaced and barely enough aid to supply even basic resources.

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

Image source, EPA

The speed of the Taliban advance in Afghanistan appears to have taken many by surprise - regional capitals seem to be falling like dominoes.

So how did it unravel so quickly? The US and its Nato allies - including the UK - have spent the best part of the last 20 years training and equipping the Afghan security forces.

The Afghan government should, in theory, still hold the upper hand with a larger force at its disposal. Afghan security forces number more than 300,000, on paper at least.

But the Afghan army and police have a troubled history of high casualties, desertions and corruption.

Read more here.

Kandahar and Lashkar Gah are among the latest major Afghan cities to fall under Taliban control.

Militants have made advances in recent months as foreign forces withdraw, but gains have accelerated in recent days.

The Taliban have made rapid territorial gains in Afghanistan the past few weeks, and there increasing concerns about what this means for those under their rule.

BBC Afghanistan Correspondent Secunder Kermani was given rare access to newly captured Taliban territory in the north of the country – where militants have been encircling the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

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The Taliban have captured Afghanistan's second largest city, Kandahar, in a crushing blow for the government.

It is often said that whoever controls Kandahar controls Afghanistan.

Kandahar is considered strategically important because of its international airport, its agricultural and industrial output, and its position as one of the country's main trading hubs.

It is also the heartland of Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, and the birthplace of the Taliban - so taking control of the city of 600,000 people is a significant prize for the militants.

Read more here.

We will bring you the latest news and reaction on the Taliban’s rapid advance in Afghanistan.

In the latest developments:

• Taliban insurgents have now taken control in the country’s second-largest city of Kandahar - strategically important and a major trading hub
• The insurgents also seized the nearby city of Lashkar Gah and now control about a third of Afghanistan's provincial capitals after taking Herat and Ghazni on Thursday
• Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the fighting, seeking safety
• The Taliban's rapid advance is fuelling fears Afghanistan’s US-backed government could soon fall, as international forces complete their withdrawal after almost 20 years of war

• The US has said it will send 3,000 troops back into Afghanistan to help evacuate staff from the American embassy. The UK is also deploying 600 troops to provide support to British nationals leaving.