Afghanistan crisis live updates: 'Taliban capture Panjshir, now in full control of Afghanistan'

The Taliban said Thursday they were close to forming a new government, as dozens of women held a rare protest for the right to work under a new regime that faces enormous economic hurdles and deep public mistrust. The Islamist militants, who have pledged a softer brand of rule than during their brutal reign of 1996-2001, must now transform from insurgent group to governing power. The announcement of a cabinet, which two Taliban sources told AFP may take place on Friday following afternoon prayers, would come just days after the chaotic pullout of US forces from Afghanistan, ending America's longest war with an astounding military victory for the Islamist group.

The US needs to closely watch China as it might try to take over the Bagram air force base in Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover of the war-torn country and use Pakistan to get stronger to go against India, a former senior American diplomat has warned. America's former envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley said President Joe Biden has lost the trust and confidence of American allies after his hasty decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. She said there are many challenges in front of the US.

They move from place to place at a moment's notice in a desperate bid to evade the Taliban girls whose lives are in danger simply because they chose to play a sport they loved. An international effort to evacuate members of the Afghanistan national girls soccer team, along with dozens of family members and soccer federation staff, suffered a crushing setback last week after a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed 169 Afghans and 13 US service members during a harrowing airlift. Now, frightened and desperate, the girls worry whether a far-flung coalition of former US military and intelligence officials, congressmen, US allies, humanitarian groups and the captain of the Afghanistan women's national team can get them and their loved ones to safety.

The United States and its allies may have left Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban but they still have "leverage" to make the Islamist militants honor commitments to allow people out of the country, according to US President Joe Biden. This was echoed by US officials and other Western leaders, who believe the Taliban can be pressured into abandoning their past violence and support for terrorism with carrot and stick measures given Afghanistan's outsized dependence on imported energy, food and foreign aid - and its shaky economy.