US envoy visits Qatar in bid to convince Taliban to halt offensive, as Pentagon says 'not much' America can do to help Afghan government

After group captures 7 of 34 provincial capitals, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad tells insurgents a military takeover of Kabul would guarantee international isolation

Taliban now controls vast tracts of rural Afghanistan after series of offensives beginning in early May

But progressive congresswoman also attacks as 'shameful' and 'Islamophobic' a statement by 12 Jewish colleagues against her earlier comments on alleged war crimes

The members of Congress issue a statement that 'equating the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban is as offensive as it is misguided'

25 lawmakers discuss lawmaker's accountability demand for war crimes committed in Afghanistan and Gaza, with some claiming remarks 'discredit' party

Zebulon Simentov endured Soviet invasion, civil war, Taliban rule and the US takeover, but now he says the dangers are too great and it is time to leave

US intel agencies warn administration that pullback without a power-sharing deal could see Taliban regain control within a few years

Discussions are latest in a flurry of diplomatic activity by the Trump administration ahead of the US presidential election in November

Administration says Trump didn't know about intelligence, but does not deny existence of Moscow-led program; Biden calls NY Times revelation 'truly shocking'