The president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, said Saturday he was holding urgent talks with local leaders and international partners while vowing to continue mustering the country’s security forces as a Taliban offensive edged closer to the country’s capital, fueling fears of a return to hardline Islamist rule. Ghani made the remarks in a brief televised address that followed the Taliban’s taking of a town south of Kabul, which the terror group could use as a springboard to launch a much-feared assault on the capital. “As your president, my focus is on preventing further instability, violence, and displacement of my people,” Ghani said, adding that he was consulting next steps with numerous parties. “We have started consultations, inside the government with elders and political leaders, representatives of different levels of the community as well as our international allies,” Ghani said. He gave no sign of responding to a Taliban demand that he …