Blinken, Ghani discuss efforts to reduce violence in Afghanistan

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Saturday with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about the "urgency of ongoing diplomatic and political efforts to reduce the violence," the State Department said in a statement.

Taliban forces entered Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of the northern Afghan province of Balkh, virtually unopposed on Saturday as security forces escaped, provincial officials said.