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Afghan gov’t dismisses fall of district to Taliban
He said the commander of the insurgent forces leading the fight in Sangin was also killed along with a large number of his fighters.
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The commander killed in the offensive is considered to be a close confidant of the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, officials said.
Defence Minister Masoom Stanekzai said: “The Helmand battle is not easy because the province has a long border, is a core of opium production, and our enemies are well-equipped and deeply involved in the smuggling of drugs”.
Speaking to reporters in Kabul, the Afghan capital, Stanekzai said the country’s overstretched security forces need the global military coalition’s aid, especially air support, which would help reduce casualties.
The strategically important district in the southern province of Helmand has been besieged by the Taliban for weeks.
On Sunday, the province’s deputy governor issued a highly unusual public plea via Facebook, warning that Helmand would fall unless immediate action were taken and urging Ghani, who visited Azerbaijan on Tuesday, to come to the province to see for himself.
The attack was the deadliest on US forces in Afghanistan this year.
Afghan government forces are holding out against a sustained Taliban onslaught in Sangin with the help of national and worldwide reinforcements.
The Afghani defence ministry insisted the fight for the strategic district – which accounted for nearly a quarter of British losses during the 13-year war in Afghanistan – goes on.
“Rumors about Lashkar Gah (falling to the Taliban) are totally baseless because we don’t have fear of losing the districts, so there is no fear of losing the center”, Abdullah said.
Taliban fighters, sometimes working with other insurgent groups like the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, have managed to overrun many districts across the country this year, and also staged a three-day takeover of the major northern city of Kunduz.
A spokesman for the Taliban had earlier claimed on Twitter that “Sangin district has completely collapsed to the Taliban” but this has been denied.
A small contingent of British troops was sent to Helmand last weekend to provide support to embattled Afghan forces in the province.
These troops are supposedly not to be deployed outside the camp, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani tries to desperately reach out to the Afghan Taliban, with the latest reports indicating that a round of dialogue that had been called off may be back on the table.
Attempts to airdrop food to the defenders were unsuccessful until an air strike, believed to been carried out by Afghan air forces, temporarily dislodged Taliban positions and allowed supplies to get through, according to officials.
American special forces were also reported to be in the area.
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China and the US are pushing the Afghan government and neighboring Pakistan to restart peace talks with the Taliban.