WASHINGTON — Pentagon leaders say the Taliban needs to surrender the vast majority of Afghanistan it controls or it will "face serious consequences," sources confirmed today.

"Make no mistake, if the Taliban does not give up all the territory it currently controls, we will have no choice but to do the same thing we've been doing for the past 17 years plus, like, 10 percent," said Patrick M. Shanahan, deputy secretary of defense.

The call for Taliban members to put down their arms and begin negotiating a truce came just days after the insurgent group took over a number of major cities, executed a daring raid on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, and destroyed various government schools and office buildings in the countryside.