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Balkh lawmaker Abas Ebrahimzada said the province's national army corps surrendered first, which prompted the pro-government militias and other forces to lose morale and give up in the face of the onslaught.

According to the lawmaker, all of the provincial installations, including the governor's office, are in Taliban hands.

The insurgents have captured much of northern, western and southern Afghanistan in a breakneck offensive less than three weeks before the US is set to withdraw its last troops, raising fears of a full militant takeover or another Afghan civil war.

The Taliban have made major advances in recent days, including capturing Herat and Kandahar, the country's second- and third-largest cities.

They now control about 23 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, leaving the Western-backed government with a smattering of provinces in the centre and east, as well as Kabul.

On Saturday, the Taliban captured all of Logar province, just south of the capital, Kabul, and detained local officials, said Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province.

She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just seven miles south of Kabul.

Later, the insurgents took over Mihterlam, the capital of Laghman province, northeast of Kabul, without a fight.

Insurgents also captured the capital of Paktika, bordering Pakistan, according to Khalid Asad, a lawmaker from the province.

He said fighting broke out in Sharana early Saturday but the governor and other officials surrendered and were on their way to Kabul.

The Taliban also took control of Maimana, the capital of northern Faryab province.

Sayed Hussan Gerdezi, a lawmaker from the neighbouing Paktia province, said the Taliban seized most of its local capital, Gardez, but that battles with government forces were still under way. The Taliban said they controlled the city.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivered a televised speech Saturday, his first public appearance since the recent Taliban gains.

He vowed not to give up the "achievements" of the 20 years since the US toppled the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks.

The US has continued holding peace talks between the government and the Taliban in Qatar this week, and the international community has warned that a Taliban government brought about by force would be shunned.

But the insurgents appear to have little interest in making concessions as they rack up victories on the battlefield.

The president had flown to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city's defences, meeting several militia commanders, including Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Mohammad Noor, who command thousands of fighters.

They remain allied with the government but warlords have been known to switch sides for their own survival.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled their homes, with many fearing a return to the Taliban's oppressive rule.

The group had previously governed Afghanistan under a harsh version of Islamic law in which women were forbidden to work or attend school, and could not leave their homes without a male relative accompanying them.

Salima Mazari, one of the few female district governors in the country, has never even considered surrendering.

"There will be no place for women," said Ms Mazari, who governs a district of 36,000 people near Mazar-e-Sharif.

"In the provinces controlled by the Taliban, no women exist there any more, not even in the cities. They are all imprisoned in their homes."

Afghans have been streaming into Kabul's international airport in recent days, desperate to fly out, even as more American troops have arrived to help partially evacuate the US embassy.

© RAW 2021

IMAGE CREDIT: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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

IMAGE CREDIT: Manly Sea Eagles Facebook

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