Rout of government forces beginning in city of Zaranj has left country in chaos and western leaders looking on in dismay
The end for Afghan forces in the south-western provincial capital of Zaranj, a trading hub close to the Iranian border, was announced by a Taliban commander. Except that he framed it as a start, and an ominous one.
“This is the beginning,” he declared in a statement. “See how other provinces fall in our hands very soon.”