Afghanistan crisis live updates: Resistance leader Msssoud lays down condition for talks, says Taliban must stop Panjshir offensive

Women attending private Afghan universities must wear an abaya robe and niqab covering most of the face, the Taliban have ordered, and classes must be segregated by sex- or at least divided by a curtain. In a lengthy document issued by the Taliban's education authority, they also ordered that female students should only be taught by other women, but if that was not possible then "old men" of good character could fill in.

The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, has arrived for a three-day visit in Afghanistan. Peter Maurer arrived Sunday and plans to visit medical facilities, rehabilitation centers for victims of violence and disease as well as ICRC staffers. The relief group said in a statement that Maurer also plans to meet with local Afghan authorities.

In the Panjshir province, the Taliban claimed to have taken the districts of Shutul, Paryan, Khinj, and Abshar amid conflict with the resistance forces, Khaama Press reported. However, resistance forces have denied the claim and said that they beleaguered the Taliban's armed men and have inflicted casualties on them. In addition to the four districts, the Taliban said that they are now busy fighting in the central areas of the Onaba district, Khaama Press said. The claims from both sides could not be confirmed as telecommunication services are blocked in the Panjshir.

Most of the banks in Afghanistan have resumed operations in the country, ending nearly weeks-long disruption in financial services, a media report said. Afghanistan's central bank-Da Afghanistan Bank- had announced to resume financial operations. However, private banks have not opened all the branches, Khaama Press reported on Sunday. Afghani people were seen outside the banks waiting in long queues for their turn to withdraw money.

The Taliban is using advanced weaponry left behind by American troops to crush the last pockets of resistance to its takeover of Afghanistan, Daily Mail reported. Fighters led by the country's former vice-president were last night mounting a final defence against the new regime's forces in Panjshir Valley, the only province that the Islamist group has not captured. But the rebels appeared outgunned by Taliban fighters using US armoured vehicles, mortar missiles and high-powered artillery.

The Taliban on Sunday said that a "new, inclusive Afghanistan government" is expected to be announced soon. "Now we live in a completely independent Afghanistan. The new government will be announced very soon," said Anaamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban's cultural commission, reported Tolo News. Although Samangani did not give details about the structure and features of the future government, he said "it will be an inclusive government and all the people will see themselves in it."

Pakistan intelligence chief Faiz Hameed has taken an "emergency" trip to Kabul to resolve an evolving internal crisis in the Taliban after reports emerged about a clash between factions between in which the group co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar suffered injuries. Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), writes in US-based 19 forty-five that the Hameed's emergency visit affirms that they are merely an ISI puppet. Signalling there a rift in the Taliban, Rubin said that the Haqqani and many other Taliban factions simply do not accept Haibatullah as their leader. "That delay (in government formation) also postponed Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar's efforts to become a political leader in Kabul. The delay may signal a much greater crisis within the Taliban, hence Hameed's emergency trip," Rubin adds.

Italy plans to move its Afghan embassy to Doha, in Qatar, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Sunday, the latest indication of Western diplomats setting up permanently outside Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover. The announcement follows earlier signals that Western countries and the European Union, which have closed their missions in Kabul, may use the Gulf state as an offshore hub for their diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.

US Representative Mike Waltz has called on the State Department to work with non-governmental organizations that he said are trying to clear charter flights to evacuate Americans and at-risk allies still hiding in several Afghan cities. In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday, the Republican lawmaker and former White House official said he had been told by several NGOs that there were manifested charter flights "available, funded, and ready to fly" people out.

Qatar has flown humanitarian aid into Kabul and said it will operate daily aid flights to Afghanistan over the next few days, providing much-needed supplies following a hiatus in much Western aid due to Taliban's takeover last month. A Qatari aid flight carrying medical supplies and food products arrived in Kabul on Saturday.

Afghanistan flag carrier airline Ariana Afghan Airlines has resumed domestic flights on Sunday, local media reported. "The Ariana Afghan Airlines resumed its flights from Kabul to Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar cities," Xinhua quoted Tolonews as saying in its news bulletin. Kabul airport had been closed since the end of the massive US-led airlift of its citizens, other Western nationals and Afghans who helped Western countries. Taliban has taken over Kabul on August 15.

Angelina Jolie has expressed concern about the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan. The actress, who is also a special envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, told a German newspaper Sunday she doesn't think the incoming government in Afghanistan could simply turn back the clock so that everything would be like 20 years ago. But she has big worries about the situation for women there. Jolie told the weekly Welt am Sonntag: ``I'm thinking of all the women and girls who don't know now if they can go back to work or school. And I'm thinking of the young Afghans who are worried that they will lose their freedom.''

A wary China is seeking to strike a common position with Afghanistan's key neighbour Iran to firm up its growing role in the war-torn country as it waits for the Taliban to form an “open and inclusive” government that makes a "clean break" from all terrorist groups.China is already coordinating its evolving policy on Afghanistan with its “all-weather ally” Pakistan and Russia which also share borders with Afghanistan.

A suicide bomber of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan blew himself up in the country's restive Balochistan province on Sunday, killing at least three security personnel and injuring 20 people, according to officials.