Show an ad over header. AMP  

Mapped: The Afghan capitals that the Taliban have captured

13 August 2021
 Dan Ackermann
Data: Al Jazeera; Map: Axios Visuals

The Taliban have captured half of Afghanistan's provincial capitals over the last week, with the insurgents showing no signs of slowing their lightning offensive as they threaten to isolate Kabul and topple the Afghan government.

The latest: The Taliban on Friday swept through the capitals of Ghor (Chaghcharan) and Helmand (Lashkar Gah), the latter of which was at the center of operations by U.S., British and NATO troops over the last 20 years.

  • The militants also captured the capitals of Uruzgan province (Tirin Kot) and Zabul (Qalat) in the south overnight.
  • On Thursday, the Taliban took the second- and third-largest cities in Afghanistan — Kandahar and Herat, respectively — as well as Ghazni, which is less than 100 miles from Kabul. Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban movement, delivering the insurgents a massive symbolic victory.
  • The U.S. announced Thursday that it will shrink down to a "core diplomatic presence" in Kabul due to the deteriorating security situation, and will send 3,000 troops to the city's international airport to assist in an evacuation effort.

Go deeper: Behind the scenes of the Biden administration as the U.S. ditches Kabul

This story and map will be updated if more capitals are captured.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly 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.