Taliban Threaten Second Afghan Provincial Capital as Insurgency Spreads by Hamid Shalizi, Reuters
Fighting intensified around the Afghan city of Ghazni on Monday, as Taliban militants threatened to seize a second provincial capital after briefly occupying Kunduz in the north last month.
The clashes around Ghazni, some 130 km (80 miles) southwest of Kabul, underlined the worsening security situation across Afghanistan, where national soldiers and police are struggling to cope now the bulk of foreign forces have withdrawn.
Monday's violence followed days of sporadic fighting near Ghazni, and prompted most shops, schools and universities there to close…