"The security forces backed by air strikes have killed some 50 militants and injured scores others since Wednesday evening," Rahimi told Xinhua.
More than two dozen others were killed only during air strikes conducted Wednesday night, the official added.
- Without giving more details, the provincial governor said that the "situation is under control" and normalcy is returning to the area.
Meantime, an army commander Abdul Manan Nijrabi in talks with Xinhua confirmed that the air raids conducted by NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Sangin on Wednesday night had left some 100 insurgents dead and injured.
Taliban militants haven't commented.
Afghan acting defense minister Mohammad Masoom Stanikzai told reporters on Wednesday that reinforcement had been sent to Sangin district to fight Taliban militants.
Xinhua -china.org.cn
24/12/15
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Related:
Afghan Forces Push Taliban Out of Key District
Afghanistan: 'Dozens of Taliban killed' in battle for Sangin...
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- NATO announced Thursday that the United States has launched air stikes to back Afghan forces scrambling to beat back the taliban from Sangin as the insurgents claimed to have captured nearly the entire opium-rich district...
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Sangin: 5 reasons an Afghan town of just 14,000 people is so important...
ReplyDeleteThe district of Sangin, located in Helmand Province, has become a flashpoint of heavy fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban.
Government forces, with the help of US air strikes, have been trying to recapture the area from the Taliban, who say they are in control of the district.
Sources in Sangin told The Independent that the Afghan army had been forced to abandon its base and the police headquarters in the town. "The Taliban are in control of the district," a source said. A Taliban spokesperson later said: "Sangin district has completely collapsed to the Taliban."
But why is Sangin, a town of just 14,000 people, so important?
1. More than 100 British soldiers have died trying to defend Sangin
If Sangin was to fall completely into the Taliban's hands, it would be a major propaganda victory for the group.
Nearly a quarter of all British troops who died in Afghanistan were killed in the town.
While US and UK troops have been sent to Helmand Province in the last week, they are there in an advisory role only.
2. Helmand Province is opium-rich
One of the major reasons the Taliban want to maintain control of Helmand is because the poppies that finance the group's war are grown there.
If the group were to take Sangin, it would be a significant gain for the militants.
3. Sangin is strategically located
?The town has become a major centre for the Taliban's insurgency, as it is links Lashkah Gah, the capital of Helmand, to the province's northern districts.
Regaining full control would increase the Taliban's mobility in the north of the province and cut a key supply line for Afghan forces.
Sangin also borders Pakistan, where the militant group has military and financial support........http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Sangin-5-reasons-an-Afghan-town-of-just-14000-people-is-so-important/articleshow/50320109.cms
25/12/15