The Taliban are stepping up their grip on Afghanistan, and according to information from the news agency AFP on Thursday, the Taliban have now taken control of Afghanistan's third largest city, Herat.
And is well on its way to taking over the second largest city of Kandahar.
Abbas Noyan, Afghanistan's ambassador to Sweden, is convinced that government forces can defend the capital Kabul.
He says the Taliban's success is due to the fact that they use civilians as shields.
- After 20 years of training, they are trained to fight the Taliban.
But unfortunately, they hide among civilians and use civilian houses and people as shields.
"A lot of bloodshed"
A US official, who has been informed by intelligence sources, states that the Taliban has the capacity to isolate Kabul in 30 days.
Abbas Noyan does not think so.
- I do not think they can take Kabul in three months.
But there will be a lot of bloodshed that we see now, he says.
Dangerous for the rest of the world
How it will end is difficult to say, but according to Abbas Noyan, the war will continue.
- But I am sure that the Afghan government and the people will fight against the Taliban.
It will not be a stable country if the tableaux continue like this.
It will also be dangerous for the rest of the world, he says.
He continues:
- They have many people against them, it is the Afghan military, security forces and also the Afghan people who are rising up against them. So I'm sure they can not take Kabul.