The Taliban on Thursday said that it now controls approximately 90 per cent of Afghanistan’s border with neighouring countries, according to ANI reports.

The outfit’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Russian media that “Afghanistan's borders with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran, or about 90 percent of the border, are under their control.”

The US top military officer offered a glum assessment on Wednesday of the security situation in Afghanistan, saying the Taliban had seized “strategic momentum” over Afghan military forces who were falling back to prioritize the protection of important cities, including Kabul, the capital.

The comments by Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed mounting reports from the ground in Afghanistan. But his sober, almost clinical, account of recent Taliban gains hammered home the point, reported The New York Times News Service.

“There’s a possibility of a complete Taliban takeover, or the possibility of any number of other scenarios,” Milley said. “I don’t think the end game is yet written.”

The Taliban have taken control of more than 210 of Afghanistan’s roughly 420 districts in recent months, Milley told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. They are also pressuring half of the country’s 34 provincial centers and are aiming to isolate Kabul and other major cities, he said.