The Taliban have officially retaken Kandahar in their latest blitzkrieg attack against major Afghan Cities as Marines and Soldiers are preparing to evacuate Americans from Kabul.

Over the past week, the Taliban have conducted a series of blitzkrieg style attacks directly through the heart of Afghanistan, taking control of three of the largest cities in the country. Ghazni, Herat, and even Kandahar are now all being reported as under Taliban control with U.S. Military Intelligence Analysts predicting that Kabul could fall into their hands in as little as 30 days, with the rest of the country collapsing within two months.

With the new threat assessment coming from military intelligence analysts, a plan of action has been put in place to evacuate Kabul. Britain has stated that they will be sending 600 British Soldiers to Kabul to conduct an evacuation of British Citizens and their embassy. The United States has stated that they will also be sending 3,000 Marines and Soldiers to Kabul to conduct a partial evacuation of the American Embassy. On top of that 3,000 Marines and Soldiers, a small contingent of troops have been moved to Qatar and Kuwait to act as a quick reaction force should the situation start to get out of control on the ground.

“This is not abandonment. This is not an evacuation. This is not a wholesale withdrawal,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said when asked what the purpose for the troop movement to Afghanistan was. “What this is is a reduction in the size of our civilian footprint.”

All of that said, Kabul itself is not directly under threat yet, however with the Taliban controlling Ghazni things are not looking good. If you're not geographically knowledgeable on the country of Afghanistan, here's what you need to know. One of the only paved highways in Afghanistan runs through Ghazni, and it's the primary route that links Kabul to the rest of Southern Afghanistan. While under Taliban control, the Afghan National Army will not be able to move logistics or troops through Ghazni in either direction, effectively cutting off the capital from reinforcements from the south unless the Afghan Airforce effectively employs their limited rotary wing assets perfectly.

Afghan civilians who have ties to government forces, or government employees are finding themselves in at the most extreme risk right now. According to a good friend of mine, who is a former Afghan Commando that has family outside of Kandahar, his family members are currently actively hiding from the Taliban everywhere they go. From that same source, we have heard that there are rumors of stonings, amputations, and mass public executions happening all around the country in Taliban controlled territories. Some of these rumors are provably true, as just yesterday images surfaced online of a woman who had been publicly executed for wearing jeans underneath of her burqa.

We will continue to bring you updates on the situation in Afghanistan as they become available to us.

Edit: The original version of this article read that the featured video was in the Kandahar Governors office, but new details have shown that it is in fact the Herat Governors office.