Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday while panicked workers fled government offices and helicopters landed at the US Embassy in the Afghan capital as the militants' further tightened their grip on the country.

A fuel tanker truck exploded early Sunday in northern Lebanon, killing 20 people and wounding dozens more, the Lebanese Red Cross said. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast.

 The Taliban on Sunday seized the last major city outside of Kabul held by the country's increasingly isolated central government, cutting off the capital to the east and tightening their grip on the nation as tens of thousands fled their rapid advance.

Port-Au-Prince (Haiti), Aug 15 (AP): A powerful magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southwestern Haiti on Saturday, killing at least 304 people and injuring at least 1,800 others as buildings tumbled into rubble. Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was rushing aid to areas where towns were destroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients.

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.