Afghanistan’s neighbours have beefed up security along their respective borders with the war-torn nation in recent weeks amid the Taliban’s* dramatic takeover of wide swathes of the country and the mass surrender or desertion of pro-government forces in the wake of the ongoing US and NATO withdrawal.

US intelligence is concerned at the pace of the Taliban’s “accelerating’ advance, fearing the group might seek to starve the Kabul government, multiple sources said to be briefed on the matter have told CNN.

The Islamist militants’ ongoing offensive is “accelerating at an accelerating pace,” one congressional source said to have knowledge of the intelligence indicated.

Several sources said Kabul province is not thought to be at risk of falling, for now, due to the limited resources the Taliban has available to mount such an operation, and to the perceived threat of US retaliatory airstrikes in support of the Afghan security forces.

The intelligence assessment also reportedly warned that the militants could ‘choke off’ the government’s import supply lines ‘if they choose to do so’, or redirect resources from trade as they continue to capture border checkpoints. However, one source indicated that the Taliban has so far kept major border crossings it has control over open, enabling them to collect import-export fees from trade.