A group of political leaders and President Ashraf Ghani at a meeting on Monday agreed to form a joint command center for public uprising forces to better manage, equip and strengthen them in the fight against the Taliban, sources said.

Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, and other political leaders including Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, Mohammad Yunus Qanooni, Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum, Mohammad Mohaqiq, as well as the speakers of the National Assembly attended the meeting at the Presidential Palace on Monday, according to a Palace statement.

Dozens of families from Kunduz, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces sought refuge in Kabul after fleeing the fighting in the three northern provinces. They arrived in Kabul on Sunday evening and spent the night in the open air.

The families said they "lost everything” in the war. Every family has its own bitter story of the ongoing violence that has overwhelmed the country. Some of those who spoke to TOLOnews have lost loved ones, their houses, and other belongings, and some have been wounded in the recent fighting.