Port-au-Prince, Aug 14: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Haiti on Saturday, with the epicenter 12 kilometers northeast of Saint-Louis du Sud, the US Geological Survey said.

The Taliban seized a province just south of Afghanistan's capital and launched a multi-pronged assault early Saturday on a major city in the north defended by powerful former warlords, Afghan officials said.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says he will not give up the achievements of the last 20 years and that consultations are underway.

Voicing concern that Afghanistan is spinning out of control , UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the Taliban to immediately halt the offensive and asserted that seizing power through military force is a "losing proposition" and can only lead to prolonged civil war and the complete isolation of the war-torn nation.

 An influential US lawmaker from New York on Friday reintroduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives to posthumously award the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi in recognition of his promotion of peace and nonviolence.

Kabul: The Taliban completed their sweep of the country's south on Friday as they took four more provincial capitals in a lightning offensive that is gradually encircling Kabul, just weeks before the US is set to officially end its two-decade war.

Islamabad: Taking a dig at the US, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Washington sees Pakistan as "useful" only for clearing the "mess" it has left behind in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting and prefers India when it comes to forming a strategic partnership.

The Taliban captured a police headquarters Thursday in a provincial capital in southern Afghanistan teetering toward being lost to the insurgents as suspected US airstrikes pounded the area, an official said.