As the US withdrawal proceeded, the Taliban and allied militant groups began a widespread offensive on 1 May 2021. In the ensuing months, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan through a combination of negotiating wholesale surrenders of Afghan National Army units and their military offensive, capturing provincial capitals, and expanding their control from 77 districts on 13 April to 104 districts on 16 June to 223 districts on 3 August. In July 2021, the US Intelligence Community estimated that the government of Afghanistan could collapse between six and 12 months after the departure of American troops. Intelligence agencies later reduced the estimation to one month.
