Afghan FM quits, leaves nation; three more capitals fall to Taliban

Group now controls nine of 34 provincial capitals amid US withdrawal

Afghanistan’s acting finance minister Khalid Payenda has resigned and left the country after the Taliban captured key customs posts bleeding the administration of revenue, reinforcing the government’s isolation as the militants make swift gains.

Payenda has “resigned and left the country because Afghanistan is grappling with declining revenues after the takeover of the custom posts,” Finance Ministry spokesman Mohammad Rafi Tabe said in a phone interview Wednesday. “The deteriorating security situation” and travelling to be with his ailing wife abroad, were the other reasons Tabe gave.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Payenda was going to.

The former minister tweeted Tuesday to say he