Afghan fighting rages as US and Britain accuse Taleban of massacring civilians

Afghan forces battled on Monday (Aug 2) to stop a first major city from falling to the Taleban as the United States and Britain accused the insurgents of massacring civilians in a town they recently captured near the Pakistan border.

Taleban fighters assaulted at least three provincial capitals overnight – Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat – after a weekend of heavy fighting that saw thousands of civilians flee the advancing militants.