US lawmaker asks Biden to change course as Taliban reach near Kabul 

In a letter to US President Joe Biden, Congressman Mike Waltz on Friday urged the administration to take immediate steps to provide assistance to the Afghan people in fight against the Taliban. He said it is time to make significant changes to the regional strategy. 

Waltz asked Biden to provide military resources to assist the Afghan National Security Forces, including air support to check the Taliban offensive. The congressman also asked to immediately cut off aid to Pakistan and consider sanctions, and ask for Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad’s resignation “due to his catastrophic diplomatic strategy.” 

Waltz wrote, “The Afghan Government and its people desperately need our help and I urge you to reverse course and provide military resources to assist the Afghan National Security Forces.” 

Meanwhile, an Afghan lawmaker says the Taliban have captured Logar province, just south of the capital, Kabul. Homa Ahmadi, a lawmaker form Logar, says that Taliban control the entire province, including its capital, and reached a district in the neighbouring Kabul province on Saturday. 

That puts the insurgents less than 80 kilometers south of the nation's capital. The Taliban have also captured much of northern, western and southern Afghanistan. 

The Taliban launched a multi-pronged assault early on Saturday on Mazar-e-Sharif, a major city in northern Afghanistan defended by powerful former warlords. 

Munir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the provincial governor in northern Balkh province, said the Taliban attacked the city from several directions setting off heavy fighting on its outskirts.  

(With inputs from agencies)