'Coming to kill us': Race against time as Afghans who fought alongside Australians face being slaughtered by the Taliban after insurgents take city where 40 Aussie soldiers died

Afghanis who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Australian soldiers face being slaughtered by the taliban after a former ADF base fell on Friday - unless the Morrison Government's plan to evacuate them succeeds.  

The insurgents have taken half of the country's 34 provincial capitals in recent days, including its second and third-largest cities, Herat and Kandahar.

On Friday evening local officials surrendered Tarin Kowt, the capital of the southern Uruzgan province, where 40 Australian soldiers died during a 12-year military operation.  

Afghanis who supported Australian soldiers and aid workers face being slaughtered by the Taliban unless Australian forces evacuate them after a former ADF base fell on Friday. Pictured: A Taliban fighter poses in Ghazni

Smoke rises after fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel in the city of Kandahar, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Sidiqullah Khan)

Afghan military and officials leave Kandahar city during fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel, in Kandahar, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Sidiqullah Khan)

The Australian government is in the process of offering sanctuary to locals who assisted Australian forces during conflict in Afghanistan. But grave fears are held for dozens of them. 

'All who previously worked with government or foreign forces are now in danger,' Uruzgan senator Mohammad Hanif Hanifi told The Weekend Australian.

'They will be killed by the Taliban.' 

The Australian government was in the process of offering sanctuary to locals who assisted Australian forces during conflict in Afghanistan. But grave fears are now held for dozens of them

Australian troops served in Afghanistan for 12 years

The Taliban now control more than two-thirds of the country just weeks before the U.S. plans to withdraw its last troops and is expected to continue a push towards the capital Kabul. Pictured: The Taliban pose in Ghazni on Thursday

Bismillah Jan Mohammad and Qudratullah Rahimi, lawmakers from Afghanistan's Uruzgan said local officials surrendered Tarin Kowt to the Taliban.

Mohammad said the governor was heading to the airport to depart for Kabul.

The Australian government has confirmed 570 locally engaged ­employee (LEE) humanitarian visas were granted to Afghanis since April.

But a further 50 approved applicants were still in Afghanistan and certain to face persecution or worse at the hands of the Taliban - which has a policy of killing Afghans who have worked with foreign powers.

A former Australian Army Captain, Jason Scanes, said it was 'negligent' those applicants had been left behind.

'The only way to reach those people now would be a military evacuation,' Mr Scanes said.