Taliban head for Afghan city in new crisis for US-backed govt

HERAT, Afghanistan: Taliban fighters with heavy weapons and night-vision equipment fought their way close to the center of the western city of Farah on Tuesday, as Afghan government forces with U.S. air support battled to keep control, officials and residents said. Residents of the city, capital of Farah province on the border with Iran, have warned for months the city was vulnerable and the attack threatened a repeat of the Taliban's capture of the northern city of Kunduz, which fell briefly in 2015. "The Taliban are moving very fast, if the government does not take serious and speedy action, the province is going to collapse to Taliban," said Hamidullah, a resident of the city reached by telephone.