AFGHANISTAN, FOR THOSE OF US WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY SERVING OVERSEAS, TALIBAN TAKE NORTHERN STRONGHOLD MAZA-I-SHARIF AND ENTER KABUL OUTSKIRTS, US PREPARED TO EVACUATE EMBASSY ETC.

Praying for our troops, our embassy personnel, and the men, women and children of Afghanistan..........

Taliban take northern Afghan stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif and enter the outskirts of Kabul sparking refugee crisis: US prepares to evacuate the Embassy and first of 3,000 soldiers arrive amid crisis

• The Taliban took the northern  Afghan stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif, and now controls the territories to the North, South and East of Kabul
• US Embassy staff in Kabul will destroy 'sensitive' materials, which a Department of State spokesperson said was 'standard operating procedure' to avoid propaganda efforts
• The first two waves of 3,000 Marines and Army soldiers arrived to help evacuate Kabul and the rest are expected to reach the city by Sunday evening 
• Officials said two Marine battalions and an Army battalion were deployed to the Embassy 
• The Taliban has moved within seven miles of Kabul and tightened their grip around the capital 
• Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell called for airstrikes against the Taliban on Friday
• The US must 'hammer Taliban advances with air strikes, provide critical support to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces defending the capital and prevent the seemingly imminent fall of the city'
• The Taliban controls 19 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces
• Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said, 'Afghanistan is in serious danger of instability'
• He said he's engaging with Afghan and international leaders, and consultations are 'urgently ongoing and the results will soon be shared'
• President Joe Biden  was on his way to Camp David in Maryland on Friday but didn't speak to reporters and hasn't made any public comments Saturday
• MORE AT  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9893399/Mitch-McConnel-calls-airstrikes-against-Taliban-warlords.html?ito=push-notification&ci=4NHNyWLtzk&si=34860793&ai=9893399
  
  UPDATED 2ND ARTICLE--Taliban Air: Fighters seize $6million US Blackhawk helicopters alongside tons of American equipment - while taking to the skies in captured Russian choppers as advance reaches outskirts of Kabul. Videos on social media show insurgents flying the Russian-made aircraft around the Afghan city of Kandahar. More clips also show how the Taliban have additionally seized American-made Black Hawk helicopters. Fighters are unlikely to possess the knowledge or the expertise to fly or maintain the state-of-the-art aircraft. But it will cause embarrassment after the White House spent billions of dollars supplying the Afghan military; MORE AT https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9893929/Taliban-fighters-control-skies-Afghanistan-seizing-mi-17-helicopters.html?ito=push-notification&ci=AvNI2BEPyu&si=34860793&ai=9893929