The Afghan president on Monday blamed the American troops' speedy pullout for the worsening violence in his country and said that his administration would now focus on protecting provincial capitals and major urban areas in the face of the rapidly advancing Taliban. Ashraf Ghani also urged lawmakers to back a national mobilization drive against the Taliban.

"An imported, hasty" peace process — a reference to Washington's push for negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban — "not only failed to bring peace but created doubt and ambiguity" among Afghans, Ghani said in his address to Parliament.

"The Taliban do not believe in lasting or just peace," Ghani said. He predicted a sea change on the battlefield "in the next six months" that would push the Taliban back, without elaborating.

Hours after the president's remarks, Taliban fighters seized control of Helmand province's government radio and TV building in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

On Sunday, the Afghan armed forces spokesman, Gen. Ajmal Omar Shinwari, told reporters that three provinces in southern and western Afghanistan face critical security situations. Southern Kandahar — the birthplace of the Taliban — as well as Helmand and Herat provinces have witnessed several attacks. Helmand provincial council chief Attaullah Afghan said the Taliban now have control of Lashkar Gah's seventh district.

"There has been relentless gunfire, air strikes and mortars in densely populated areas. Houses are being bombed, and many people are suffering severe injuries," said Sarah Leahy, Helmand coordinator for Doctors Without Borders. The group, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF, said in a statement Monday that life in Lashkar Gah was at a standstill as residents hunker down inside their homes, afraid to venture out.

"Some of our colleagues are staying overnight in the hospital as it's safer, but also so they can keep on treating patients," the organization said. "The situation has been dire for months but now it is even worse [...] Afghan security forces are out of supplies and food in the city."

Back in Kabul, Ghani claimed his government has the financial and political support of the United States and the international community to turn the tide even as he urged the insurgents to rejoin peace talks. "We either sit knee to knee at the real negotiating table or break their (Taliban) knees on the battleground."

The Biden administration on Monday said it is expanding eligibility for at-risk Afghans looking to come to the United States as refugees, citing increased Taliban violence.

Afghans who work or worked for a U.S. government-funded program in Afghanistan or who are current or former employees of U.S.-based media organizations on nongovernmental organizations will now be able to apply through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to permanently resettle in the U.S. Those who worked as contractors, interpreters or translators for the U.S. and NATO military operation in Afghanistan but who do not meet the minimum time requirement for a Special Immigrant Visa will also be eligible to apply under a State Department 'Priority 2' designation who are not eligible for a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV)."

The Biden administration will not begin processing applicants until they are outside of Afghanistan and in third countries. It is expected to take between 12 and 14 months to process applicants.

This differs from the approach the administration is taking with respect to applicants for Special Immigrant Visas, some of whom the administration has started evacuating before they complete their applications.

The first group of Afghans departed Afghanistan for the U.S. last week. The group of more than 200 was taken to Fort Lee, Va., where they will complete the SIV application process. They are part of a larger group of 2,500 Afghans, which includes interpreters and their families, who have completed most of the visa application process. An estimated 18,000 applicants and 53,000 family members are already awaiting visas.

Congress authorized 8,000 more visas to the program in a spending package that President Biden signed into law last week.

It's unclear precisely how many more Afghans will be eligible to apply through the U.S. refugee program under the new designation. The senior State Department official told reporters it was likely to be in the tens of thousands but said the administration was unsure of the size.

Local governments in major cities including Beijing have now tested millions of residents, while cordoning off residential compounds and placing close contacts under quarantine.

The central city of Zhuzhou in Hunan province ordered over 1.2 million residents today to stay home under strict lockdown for the next three days as it rolls out a citywide testing and vaccination campaign, according to an official statement. "The situation is still grim and complicated," the Zhuzhou government said.
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Zhangjiajie locked down all 1.5 million residents on Friday.

Officials are urgently seeking people who have recently travelled from Nanjing or Zhangjiajie, and have urged tourists not to travel to areas where cases have been found.

Meanwhile, Beijing has blocked tourists from entering the capital during the peak summer holiday travel season.

Only "essential travellers" with negative nucleic acid tests will be allowed to enter after the discovery of a handful of cases among residents who had returned from Zhangjiajie.

Top city officials have called for residents "not to leave Beijing unless necessary".

The capital's Changping district locked down 41,000 people in nine housing communities last week.

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