Media Reports: Taliban Controls 90% of Afghanistan

Iranian media have confirmed that the Afghan Taliban now controls 90% of Afghanistan's territory. The Iranian television channel "IRIB" reported: "The Taliban controls 90% of Afghanistan… and its supporters have entered the city of Mazar-i-Sharif and seized the city's prison, with only the capital Kabul and the surrounding provinces under the control of the Afghan government." The Associated Press, citing an Afghan parliamentarian, reported that "the Taliban has taken Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest city in the north and the capital of Balkh Province, and has also occupied the administrative centers of Laghman and Daikundi provinces without resistance." It noted that "Kabul and Jalalabad, the center of Nangarhar Province in the east bordering Pakistan, remain under government control," while the remaining areas have fallen to the Taliban.