Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday blamed the country's deteriorating security on Washington deciding "abruptly" to withdraw its troops. 

Taliban insurgents have moved in on three provincial capitals in the last few days, amid rapid advances nationwide since Washington said it planned a complete withdrawal of troops by September. 

"The reason for our current situation is that the decision was taken abruptly," he told parliament, adding he had warned Washington the withdrawal would have "consequences." 

However, he added that the Afghan government had a security plan to bring the situation under control within six months. 

The Taliban would not move towards peace unless the worsening security situation was curbed, Ghani said. 

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Peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban negotiators started last year in the Qatari capital of Doha, but have not made any substantive progress despite a few rounds. However, the two sides committed to speeding up the talks at a recent meeting in Doha.

Ghani said the militants had not severed ties with terrorist groups, and had stepped up attacks on women and civil society activists. 

It was time the Taliban and the Afghan government accepted each other and moved towards a peaceful solution, he added. 

The Taliban rejected Ghani's accusations. "Declarations of war, accusations and lies cannot prolong Ghani's government's life; his time has run out, God willing," the movement's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter. 

During a visit to China last week, the Taliban's political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said the group is sincere about seeking peace and is willing to work with other parties to create an extensive and inclusive political arrangement that is acceptable to all Afghan people. 

Afghan forces battled Monday to stop a first major city from falling to the Taliban following weekend offensives by the insurgents on urban centers in a sharp escalation.  

Taliban fighters assaulted at least three provincial capitals overnight – Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat – after a weekend of heavy fighting that saw thousands of civilians flee the advancing militants.  

Fighting raged in Helmand's provincial capital Lashkar Gah, where the Taliban launched coordinated attacks on the city center and its prison – just hours after the government announced the deployment of hundreds of commandos to the area.  

Clashes have intensified since early May, with the insurgents capitalizing on the final stages of the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces after almost 20 years. 

China, Afghanistan and Pakistan in June called for a responsible and orderly withdrawal of foreign troops to avoid a deterioration in the security situation in the region or giving terrorist forces an opportunity to thrive. China also urged the Taliban to make a clean break with all terrorist forces and return to the mainstream of Afghan politics. 

(With input from Reuters, AFP) 

(Cover: U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (L) at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 25, 2021. /CFP)