Received

Taliban fighters have captured the major city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, sending Afghan forces fleeing, and drawing closer to Kabul as Western countries scramble to evacuate their citizens from the capital.

It was the latest important capture for the hardline militants, who have swept through the country in recent weeks as US-led forces withdrew. Kabul and Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, are now the only big cities not in Taliban hands.

US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the United States was sending 5000 troops to help evacuate citizens and ensure an "orderly and safe" drawdown of US military personnel.

A US defence official said the deployment included 1000 newly approved troops from the 82nd Airborne Division.

Security forces from Mazar-i-Sharif were escaping towards the Uzbekistan border, Afzal Hadid, head of the Balkh provincial council, told Reuters. The city appeared to have fallen largely without a fight, although sporadic clashes were continuing nearby, he said.

Afghan militia leader Atta Mohammad Noor said in a Facebook post that control of Balkh province, where Mazar-I-Sharif is located, had been handed to the Taliban due to a "conspiracy."

Noor, former governor of Balkh, said the Taliban sought to trap him and Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, another pro-government militia leader. The two former warlords escaped along with other provincial officials, he said, without disclosing their location.

"Unfortunately, as result of a large, organised and cowardly conspiracy, all government facilities and government forces were handed over to the Taliban," Noor wrote, adding: "They wanted to trap my friend Marshal Abdul Rashid and me, but they did not succeed."

As night fell in Kabul on Saturday, hundreds of people were huddled in tents or in the open in the city, by roadsides or in car parks, a resident said. "You can see the fear in their faces," he said.

Many Afghans have fled the provinces for the capital, driven out by fighting and fearful of a return to hardline Islamist rule, as resistance from Afghan government forces crumbles.

President Ashraf Ghani held talks with local leaders and international partners but gave no sign of responding to a Taliban demand that he resign as a condition for any ceasefire.

His focus was "on preventing further instability, violence, and displacement of my people", he said in a brief televised address, adding that security and defence forces were being consolidated.

Qatar, which has been hosting so-far inconclusive peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, said it had urged the insurgents to cease fire during a meeting with their representatives on Saturday.

Earlier the Taliban, facing little resistance, took Pul-e-Alam, capital of Logar province and 70 km south of Kabul, according to a local provincial council member, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Police officials however denied reports that the Taliban had advanced closer to Kabul from Pul-e-Alam, which is a staging post for a potential assault on the capital.

An Afghan government official confirmed on Friday that Kandahar, the biggest city in the south and the heartland of the Taliban, was under the militants' control as US-led forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war launched after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

Outside Kabul, the only major city now still in government control is Jalalabad, near the Pakistani border in the east.

American troops have begun flying in to Kabul to help in the evacuation of embassy personnel and other civilians, a US official said on condition of anonymity.

Visa applications at embassies were running in the tens of thousands, officials said, and Washington was asking countries to temporarily house Afghans who worked for the US government.

In a statement late on Saturday, the Taliban said its gains showed it was popularly accepted by the Afghan people and sought to reassure both Afghans and foreigners that they would be safe.

The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) "once again assures all its citizens that it will, as always, protect their life, property and honour and create a peaceful and secure environment for its beloved nation. No one should worry about their life," it said, adding that diplomats and aid workers would also face no problems.

Hospitals were struggling to cope with the numbers of people wounded in the fighting, with 17,000 treated in July and the first week of August in facilities supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the aid agency said.

The explosion in fighting has raised fears of a refugee crisis and a rollback of gains in human rights, especially for women. Canada said it would resettle more than 20,000 vulnerable Afghans including women leaders, human rights workers and reporters to protect them from Taliban reprisals.

© RAW 2021

Reuben Garrick is closing in on NRL history with the Manly winger just 32 points away from becoming the first player to post 300 points in a regular season.

Garrick forced his way into the Sea Eagles' record books on Saturday night, with his 28-point haul against Parramatta taking his tally for the season to 268.

That figure surpasses the 257 scored by Matthew Ridge in 1995, making for the greatest points-scoring season in Manly's history.

But further records could still await.

Hazem El Masri holds the mark for the most points in a regular season in the game's history, with 294 in 2004 for Canterbury.

El Masri then played all four weeks of the finals to take his overall tally to 342.

Garrick has three games left to score the 27 points required to beat the regular season mark, while 32 would allow him to create his own one-man 300-club.

The 56-10 flogging of Parramatta also allowed Garrick to go well clear of Adam Reynolds, who has 230 points, at the top of this year's charts.

"Ridgey was also ultra-competitive. It's a great personal achievement for Reuben," Manly coach Des Hasler said.

"It's fantastic. Reuben works really hard at his game. So it's very deserving.

"But he will be the first to say he is on a fair backline and no doubt there are a lot of boys working hard on the inside setting up those assists."

Manly's backline could also post another record in coming weeks, given they are just one Tom Trbojevic try away from each of their back three scoring 20 for the season.

Garrick and Saab are both on 20 for the year to be equal-third in the overall race, while Trbojevic sits on 19 in just 13 games.

No team in history has had three players post 20 tries in a season before.

Meanwhile, the Sea Eagles need 48 points from their last three games of the regular season for this to be the most prolific in the club's history.

They have now passed 50 five times in this year alone, becoming just the third team in history to do so.

The recent form has brought back memories of the freestyling way Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans delivered the club's last premiership in 2011.

But Hasler said they were now a completely different pairing.

"I don't think it's anything at all like 2011," Hasler said.

"They're just playing good footy, they are experienced and work well together.

"They just have to maintain it."

© AAP 2021

All of New South Wales will awake under strict lockdown and more police presence after the state broke its record for COVID-19 cases.

NSW reported 466 new locally-acquired cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Friday, and four deaths.

Police indicated they would also be out in full force in affected Local Government Areas, with officers able to impose larger fines of $5000 for breaching public health orders.

An additional 500 ADF personnel will be deployed on top of 300 already in NSW.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced the precautionary lockdown after rising numbers in regional areas and virus fragments were found in sewage systems in places with no known cases.

It came on Saturday afternoon on Twitter after Premier Gladys Berejiklian made no mention of it at her 11am press conference.

"It's to make sure that we don't become overwhelmed. A lot of our small regional communities don't have an ICU unit so we would be transporting people from little town to some of the major centres," Mr Barilaro told ABC News.

The Australian Medical Association had implored the state government to lock down saying the health system could no longer manage the alarming increase in case numbers.

"Our already fragile rural and regional health system will be unable to cope with increases in cases," AMA NSW President Dr Danielle McMullen said in a statement.

Restrictions also tightened in Greater Sydney from next week with exercise restricted from ten kilometres to five from the home.

"Exercise means exercise, many people know that but unfortunately some people were trying to get around the rules imposed," Ms Berejiklian said.

People in Greater Sydney will also need a permit to travel to regional NSW, and single people will need to register their "singles buddies".

The biggest increases in case numbers in western Sydney were in Blacktown, Doonside, Mount Druitt, Maryland, Guildford and Auburn.

Of the new local cases, 121 are linked to known outbreaks and 345 are under investigation, while 87 people were in the community for all or part of the time they were infectious.

In newly-locked down regional areas people must only leave their residence for an essential reason, with all schooling to be conducted from home.

Everyone must carry masks at all times, no visitors are allowed in the home unless for carers' responsibilities or for compassionate reasons, and those in a relationship.

While Greater Sydney has endured lockdown for nearly seven weeks, Mr Barilaro said he hoped the newly-locked down regional communities could be out in a week if they did the right thing.

© AAP 2021