The Afghan government imposed a night-time curfew on Friday night in 31 provinces of the country's 34. They also deployed hundreds of its troops on the borders with Pakistan to ‘curb’ the ‘surging violence’ as a result of the Taliban's offensive operations in recent months, according to the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs.

According to the spokesperson of the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs Ahmad Zia Zia, the curfew would be effective between 10:00 pm and 4:00 am local time. "To curb violence and limit the Taliban movements, a night curfew has been imposed in 31 provinces across the country," said the ministry.

US President Joe Biden affirmed to his Afghan counterpart, Ashraf Ghani, the US commitment to continue supporting the Afghan security forces to defend themselves, during a phone call between the two presidents.

The White House call readout read, "President Biden and President Ghani agreed that the Taliban’s current offensive is in direct contradiction to the movement’s claim to support a negotiated settlement of the conflict."

The call between the Afghan and the US presidents came after the US army announced that it is more than 90% out of Afghanistan, while Washington pledged to be entirely out of the country by September.

US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, said during a joint press conference with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley that the US is closely monitoring the possibility of Al-Qaeda returning to Afghanistan.