Taliban capture third-largest city in Afghanistan, 11th provincial capital in last week
12 August 2021
Data: Al Jazeera and AP; Map: Axios Visuals
The Taliban captured the cities of Ghazni and Herat on Thursday, the 10th and 11th provincial capitals to fall to the militant group in recent days, AP reports.
Why it matters: Herat is the third-largest city in Afghanistan. Ghazni is the closest provincial capital to Kabul to fall to the Taliban — putting their frontlines within 100 miles of the heart of Afgahn government. Capturing Ghazni also cuts off a key highway linking it with Afghanistan's southern provinces.
- A newly released U.S. military assessment suggests that Kabul could come under pressure within 30 days and that the Taliban could gain control of the country within months, per AP.
- Kabul is not directly under attack, but "the loss of Ghazni tightens the grip of a resurgent Taliban estimated to now hold some two-thirds of the nation," AP writes.
The big picture: The string of swift Taliban successes in the final weeks of the U.S. withdrawal has dented hopes that the Afghan military and allied groups will be able to hold off the insurgency, Axios' Dave Lawler reports.
- Afghan officials have been seeking air support from the U.S. following its withdrawal, but the Pentagon has not said whether it could conduct such operations.
Go deeper: Inside the Biden administration as Afghanistan collapses
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.