U.S. officials are reportedly lowering their estimates for how long the Afghan government can hold on

U.S. embassy in Kabul.
(Image credit: Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

U.S. officials previously believed the Afghan government would collapse in about six months, but the Taliban's rapid offensive has them rethinking the timeline, CNN reports, citing two sources familiar with discussions on the matter. Now, there's a sense that the fall could occur much more quickly, though it's not clear if there are any specific estimates. On Tuesday, the Taliban took three more provincial capitals, so the group has seized nine of these key cities in just five days.

Afghanistan's capital Kabul, where the U.S. embassy is located, isn't considered to be under immediate threat, but the accelerated timeline does mean Washington is at least preparing for a further drawdown of the embassy in the coming days or weeks, the sources told CNN.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.