The Taliban have captured the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni - just 150 kilometers (95 miles) from the capital, Kabul - according to multiple sources.
The city is the tenth provincial capital to fall to the insurgents in the past week. It provides the militants with a route to the capital from their strongholds in the south.
Taliban take key headquarters
In Ghazni, the militants seized key government offices, including that of the governor's office and the police headquarters. They also broke into the province's central prison, local officials told the DPA news agency.
The Taliban posted videos and photos online that showed distinguishing features of the city, purporting to show that they were inside.
Government forces were still said to be in control of the city's intelligence headquarters.
The militants had already been holding two of Ghazni's police districts since around mid-July.
Ghazni has an estimated 180,000 inhabitants and sits on an important ring highway that connects the country's largest cities.
Cities fall in quick succession
US defense officials have said the Taliban could isolate Kabul within 30 days and possibly overrun it within 90 days.
The insurgents now control more than a quarter of provincial capitals in Afghanistan, having made rapid territorial gains as the US and its allies withdraw ahead of a September deadline.
Thousands of families have now fled from the provinces to escape violence, hoping to find refuge in Kabul.
Afghan government forces have collapsed even more rapidly than thought possible just a few months ago when US President Joe Biden ordered a full withdrawal.
The Taliban's success has fueled Western fears that the Islamists could come to power by force rather than through long-stalled peace talks aimed at establishing a more moderate interim administration.
According to the Afghan news network 1TV, the Afghan government has offered a new power-share agreement to the Taliban amid concern over the loss of territory.
Germany ponders future aid
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said his country will pull all financial support for Afghanistan if the Taliban takes over and introduces Sharia law.
"We give €430 million euros every year," said Maas. "We will not give a penny more to Afghanistan if the Taliban has have completely taken over this country, introduce Sharia law and this country becomes a caliphate," he told ZDF television on Thursday.
The withdrawal of the German military from the country was a consequence of the withdrawal of the US, Maas stressed.
Without US forces and wider NATO engagement, Maas said there was no point in military engagement in the country.
However, he maintained that the deployment of the Bundeswehr and its international partners in Afghanistan had been beneficial in numerous areas.
He pointed, for example, to an increase in life expectancy, lower infant mortality and higher average income. "This must be maintained," said Maas.
Maas confirmed that Germany would suspend deportations to Afghanistan until at least August 31 in the face of the deterioration of the security situation.
