The Taliban already held three Helmand districts as well as large parts of the rest of the province outside the main centers and control strategic roads, making it hard to reinforce and resupply security force units cut off by their advance.
Advertisement
Star Wars fan in NY legally changes name to Darth Vader
But previous year , this ” Star Wars ” fan legally changed his name to match the Sith Lord and became Darth Vader. Jonathan Wonneberger, dressed as a Jawa trader, said the service was a welcome change from tradition.
“I was injured in fighting with armed Taliban in Sangin district six days ago and was taken out by helicopter from the area on Thursday”, Border Police Force officer Abdul Wahab told Xinhua.
Trump, Clinton head into 2016 with big leads
The Sanders campaign focuses heavily on economic issues, and the new poll suggests he has boosted his standing on that issue. It looks like the presidential race is becoming even more contentious as we head into the election year.
(Vatican Radio) Reports characterized as “grim” and “desperate” are being used in reference to a Taliban takeover of the Sangin district of Afghanistan.
Bills ground out win over Cowboys
On special teams , Lucky Whitehead was continuing to try to prove he is an National Football League caliber special teams star. Karlos Williams (17 for 76) and quarterback Tyrod Taylor (14 for 67) combined for 236 yards rushing to lead the Buffalo charge.
“As we’ve seen in Kunduz, the Afghan forces are incapable of tackling the insurgency on their own”, said Omar Hamid, an analyst at the security consulting firm IHS.
Government officials, however, have denied the claim and said they have pushed back Taliban insurgents. As well as providing revenue, gaining control of the town would allow the insurgents to block important army supply and access routes. The fight for Sangin has been particularly ferocious, with officials saying that only the army base was still in government hands until Tuesday.
“U.S. forces conducted two strikes in Sangin district, Helmand Province, December 23, against threats to the force”, U.S. Army Colonel Michael Lawhorn said.
The claims from the Afghan interior ministry and army could not be verified and came after the Taliban appeared to have seized control of most of the key town in the southern Helmand province.
The attack was the deadliest on US forces in Afghanistan this year.
She also said that contacts between Russian Federation and the Taliban have been limited.
The fall of Sangin would be particularly sensitive in the United Kingdom as more than 100 British soldiers died there amid some of the fiercest fighting of the 13-year combat mission.
Talk of negotiations between the Kabul government and the insurgents has resurfaced after a regional conference in the Pakistani capital earlier this month where hopes were raised that a process that was cancelled over the summer could be revived in 2016.
The announcement in July that the Taliban founder and leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had been dead for more than two years saw the group pull out of a dialogue process after only one meeting in Pakistan between representatives of each side. The Taliban said the reinforcements showed the government’s desperation. Both took place before midnight.
Advertisement
And last weekend it flew out 10 soldiers to Helmand province to join a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation force training and advising Afghan troops.
