Taliban

Taliban fighters have entered parts of Herat, Lashkar Gah and Kandahar.

They have made rapid gains in rural areas since it was announced almost all foreign troops would go by September.

But the fate of these key cities could be crucial amid fears of a humanitarian crisis and how long government forces will be able to hold out.

The fundamentalist Islamist militia is already thought to have captured up to half of all Afghanistan's territory, including lucrative border crossings with Iran and Pakistan.

Children and women are said to be among the victims in Kamdesh, with at least 60 people dead and dozens more missing, and many homes destroyed.

The disaster zone is held by Taliban militants fighting the government.

Talks are being held to try to let rescue teams enter the area which is hard to reach in normal times.

Afghan officials gave a death toll of 60 but the Taliban say 150 people died in the flooding, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Videos being shared on social media show the white flag fluttering above the Spin Boldak crossing near Kandahar.

Afghan officials have denied the post has fallen, although pictures on social media show the militants chatting to Pakistani border guards.

The BBC has been told the Taliban took the border crossing with no resistance.

In recent weeks, the militants have made rapid advances across the country, seizing a series of border posts from Afghan forces, including crossings with Iran, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

In Parwan province, north of the capital Kabul, an election rally where President Ashraf Ghani was due to speak was attacked, and 26 people died.

Another blast, near the US embassy in central Kabul, killed 22 people.

The Taliban said they were behind both attacks. The group has continued a concerted bombing campaign while at the same time taking part in peace talks.

But US President Donald Trump described the negotiations with the Taliban as "dead" earlier this month.

Joshua Boyle spoke to reporters after landing in Canada with his wife Caitlan Coleman and children following almost five years in captivity.

They were captured while reportedly backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012.

Ms Coleman's father has said the decision to visit the dangerous country was "unconscionable".

Both sets of parents have previously questioned why the couple were in Afghanistan in the first place.

Five others were injured in the assault on the facility in Shah Wali Kot district, defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Wazir told the BBC.

It comes four days after 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban militants stormed another base in the same area.

The Taliban said it had carried out the attack, AFP news agency reports.

Last month, the Taliban announced the start of their "spring offensive" a week after killing at least 135 Afghan soldiers in a military compound near the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif.

A police source told the BBC that an infiltrator from the Taliban had allowed militants into the outpost in the regional capital, Lashkar Gah. The infiltrator fled with the Taliban.

Other reports said the infiltrator killed the policemen himself.

A spokesperson for the provincial governor confirmed the attack, but did not provide details.

Local television news reported that the Taliban seized weapons and ammunition from the scene, and that a local hospital had confirmed receipt of at least 11 bodies.

Besides the 30 civilians, two US service members were killed in the operation that targeted Taliban leaders planning additional attacks in Kunduz city.

"I deeply regret the loss of innocent lives, regardless of the circumstances," Gen. John W. Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in a statement Saturday.

"The loss of innocent life is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the families. We will work with our Afghan partners to investigate and determine the facts and we will work with the government of Afghanistan to provide assistance."

The city of 200,000 people is the capital of Helmand province, parts of which have been seized back by the militant group.

The new assault is their most concerted push yet into the city, in the south of the country.

At least 14 people were killed by a suicide bomber in Lashkar Gah on Monday. including 10 police officers.

The city was the scene of heavy fighting between the Taliban and Nato-led forces before their withdrawal in 2014.

Azam Tariq died in Paktika province, near Pakistan's border. His son and nine others were also reported killed.

Tariq was a former Pakistani Taliban spokesman and part of a breakaway faction after the group split in 2014.

Many Pakistani Taliban now operate from Afghanistan after they were dislodged from strongholds in north-west Pakistan by a military offensive.