The president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, said Saturday he was holding urgent talks with local leaders and international partners while vowing to continue mustering the country’s security forces as a Taliban offensive edged closer to the country’s capital, fueling fears of a return to hardline Islamist rule.
Ghani made the remarks in a brief televised address that followed the Taliban’s taking of a town south of Kabul, which the terror group could use as a springboard to launch a much-feared assault on the capital.
