In Afghanistan, the Taliban have taken over additional provincial capitals.

Officials say the Taliban took control of two more provincial capitals in Afghanistan on Monday. As American and NATO forces prepare to leave the war-torn country, their fall was the latest development in a weeks-long Taliban offensive.

After capturing significant swaths of land in the predominantly rural countryside, the insurgents have intensified their march throughout most of Afghanistan, turning their weapons on provincial capitals. At the same time, they are undertaking an assassination campaign in Kabul, targeting senior government leaders.

The sweep comes despite condemnations by the international community and warnings from the United Nations that a military victory and takeover by the Taliban would not be recognized. The Taliban have also not heeded appeals to return to the negotiating table and continue long-stalled peace talks with the Afghan government.

Hayatullah Samangani and Mahboba Rahmat, two MPs from northern Samangan province, stated the provincial capital of Aybak fell to the Taliban without a fight on Monday afternoon. Government officials, they claimed, had fled to another district.

Taliban insurgents had previously conquered three districts of the province before overrunning the capital, according to provincial council member Mohammad Hashim Sarwari.

Ziauddin Zia, a provincial politician who is physically present in Samangan, claimed several government installations remained under government control as security troops fought Taliban fighters.

The Taliban overran the provincial capital after more than a week of resistance by Afghan security forces, according to Mohammad Noor Rahmani, the council chief of northern Sar-e Pul province, after which the city of Sar-e Pul disintegrated. According to him, the government soldiers have now entirely departed from the province.

Several pro-government local militia commanders also surrendered to the Taliban without a struggle, allowing the Taliban to take control of the province as a whole, according to Rahmani.

Aybak and Sar-e Pul join three other provincial capitals now completely under Taliban control: Zaranj, the capital of western Nimroz province, Sheberghan, the seat of northern Zawzjan province, and Taleqan, the capital of yet another northern province of the same name.

The Taliban are also battling for control of Kunduz, the northern Kunduz province's capital. According to a video obtained by The Associated Press, they planted their flag in the city's main square on Sunday, where it was seen fluttering atop a traffic police booth.

The Taliban's conquest of Kunduz would be a big victory and a test of their capacity to seize and hold territory in their fight against the Western-backed government. With a population of more than 340,000 people, it is one of the country's biggest cities and has been a crucial territory defended against Taliban takeovers by Western soldiers over the years.

After billions of dollars have been spent helping, training, and bolstering Afghan security, many people are baffled as to why the Taliban have threatened — and now conquered — several of the country's 34 provincial capitals.

The provincial capital of Sar-e Pul has been under siege by militants for weeks, according to Rahmani, the council chief in Sar-e Pul, with no reinforcements being supplied to the overstretched Afghan military. A video circulating on social media Monday shows a group of Taliban fighters celebrating one other on the triumph in front of the Sar-e Pul governor's office.

As US and NATO soldiers began to evacuate from Afghanistan this summer, the Taliban attack spread across the country. Afghan security forces and government troops have replied with airstrikes supplied by the US as Taliban attacks have increased. Concerns about civilian casualties have grown as a result of the war.

On Monday, UNICEF expressed its astonishment at the rising number of child casualties in Afghanistan's intensifying violence. At least 27 children have been killed in the last three days in various regions, including 20 in Kandahar, according to the report.

The organization stated, "These atrocities are further proof of the horrific nature and magnitude of violence in Afghanistan, which preys on already vulnerable children." It did not name the side that carried out the assassinations. UNICEF has also expressed concern over armed organizations' rising recruiting of youngsters.

Last week, the Taliban grabbed control of the majority of Lashkar Gah, the capital of southern Helmand province, when they took nine of the city's ten police districts. There is still heavy fighting there, as well as bombings by the US and Afghan governments, one of which damaged a health clinic and a high school.