In Afghanistan, the Taliban has seized control of five cities since Friday as they continue their relentless offensive. Kunduz, Sar-i-Pul and Taloqan were the latest provincial capitals to fall to the Taliban on Sunday, as the militant group also makes advances in the major cities of Kandahar and Lashkar Gah. The Biden administration reportedly has no plans to change its deadline of August 31 to complete the U.S. withdrawal, though it previously did not rule out continuing airstrikes beyond that date. On Friday, Taliban fighters assassinated the government’s top media and information official in Kabul. Meanwhile, the U.N. special envoy for Afghanistan said there were more than 1,000 civilian casualties over the past month and that the war has now entered a “deadlier and more destructive phase.”

Deborah Lyons: “This is now a different kind of war, reminiscent of Syria recently or Sarajevo in the not-so-distant past. To attack urban areas is to knowingly inflict enormous harm and cause massive civilian casualties.”

At least 244,000 people in Afghanistan have also been internally displaced since the Taliban offensive started in May.