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The seizure of Kandahar and Herat, the second and third largest city respectively, if proven true, would mark an acceleration of the Taliban's campaign to seize full control of the country
The Taliban claimed Friday to have captured Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city, which would leave just the capital and pockets of other territory in the government's hands.
"Kandahar is completely conquered. The Mujahideen reached Martyrs' Square in the city," a Taliban spokesman tweeted on an officially recognized account -- a claim backed by a resident, who told AFP government forces appeared to have withdrawn en masse to a military facility outside the city.
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