According to a US intelligence estimate, the Taliban might choke off Afghanistan's capital in a month and overrun it in three months after a succession of militant victories severely reduced the Afghan government's chances of survival.

The Taliban's blitz in northern Afghanistan, which has resulted in the collapse of nine provincial capitals, has caused American authorities to rethink their already dire predictions.

According to Reuters, earlier estimates that Ashraf Ghani's government in Kabul may be overrun in six to twelve months have been lowered to three months. It might take as little as 30 days, according to one official, according to the Washington Post.

Ghani, the Afghan president, travelled to Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of the nation on Wednesday to rally forces after neighboring provinces fell to the Taliban, leaving Mazar-i-Sharif as the country's only anti-Taliban bastion.