Afghan soldiers flee across the border as regions fall to the Taliban after Americans leave Afghanistan
ITV News Correspondent Dan Rivers reports on the latest developments in Afghanistan
It's only been a few days since US forces left Afghanistan after nearly 20 years, and already the Afghan national army is struggling to hold the line.In northern Afghanistan, district after district has fallen to the Taliban.
In just the last two days, hundreds of Afghan soldiers fled across the border into Tajikistan rather than fight the insurgents.
The Afghan government has put out videos of air strikes on Taliban targets, but on the ground its forces face a determined enemy in some of the most extreme terrain on earth.
More than 300 Afghan military personnel crossed from into the Badakhshan province of Tajikistan as Taliban fighters advanced toward the border, the central Asian country's state committee for national security said in a statement.
Footage has emerged of government officials rushing for the last flight out of Fayzabad as the Taliban closes in.
Bagram airbase - what was the symbol of America's superpower presence - has been handed over to Afghan forces.
Much of the complex is now deserted - the overwhelming air support gone - leaving those who used to work with western troops worried about their safety.
It comes as US President Joe Biden announced in April the end to Afghanistan’s "forever war," the Taliban have made strides throughout the country.
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The Taliban's most significant gains have been in the northern half of the country, a traditional stronghold of the US-allied warlords who helped defeat them in 2001.
The gains in northeastern Badakhshan province in recent days have mostly come to the insurgent movement without a fight, said Mohib-ul Rahman, a provincial council member.
He blamed Taliban successes on the poor morale of troops who are mostly outnumbered and without resupplies.
"Unfortunately, the majority of the districts were left to Taliban without any fight," Mr Rahman said, before adding: "In the last three days, 10 districts fell to Taliban, eight without a fight."
The Taliban now control roughly one-third of all 421 districts and district centres in Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the fall of the districts and said most were without a fight.