The Islamists broke through the frontlines of Sangin district on Sunday after days of pitched clashes with besieged Afghan forces, tightening their grip on the southern province.
The Taliban began advancing on the district centre after storming government buildings, sending civilians fleeing as fears grew that the entire province was on the verge of falling to the insurgents.
Government reinforcements began arriving in Sangin after food and ammunition were air-dropped to besieged Afghan forces, deputy Helmand governor Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar told AFP on Wednesday.
"I am confident that we will not lose Sangin," said Rasoolyar, just days after he warned that Helmand was teetering on the brink.
The war in Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, underscores worsening security across Afghanistan a year after NATO formally ended its combat operations.
All but two of Helmand's 14 districts are effectively controlled or heavily contested by Taliban insurgents...
AFP
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23/12/15
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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...
ReplyDeleteThe Islamists broke through the frontlines of Sangin on Sunday after days of pitched clashes with besieged Afghan forces, tightening their grip on the southern province of Helmand.
Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi on Wednesday said that "the Sangin district centers, its police HQ, and other establishments were under continued attacks of the mujahideen and today... with God's grace the district was fully captured by the mujahideen.
"The white flag of the Islamic emirate is at full mast at the district now.''
Haji Daud, the head of the Sangin district people's council, told the BBC that Sangin residents had fled the district to neighboring areas.
Fleeing residents reported Taliban executions of captured soldiers as the insurgents advanced on the district center, compounding fears that the entire province was on the brink of a security collapse............http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/96686-151224-afghan-forces-struggle-to-beat-back-taliban-in-besieged-district
24/12/15