The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.

The meeting has been convened on the request of Afghan government.

 Meanwhile, Taliban have switched strategy from targeting rural areas of Afghanistan to attacking provincial cities, in response to increased U.S. air strikes.

Fighting has been particularly heavy inside the city of Herat, near the western border with Iran, Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand province in the southwest, and Kandahar in the south.