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Afghan forces on offensive against Taliban in Sangin

Fleeing residents reported Taliban executions of captured soldiers as the insurgents advanced on the district centre, compounding fears that the entire province was on the brink of falling into insurgent hands. United States aircraft carried out two attacks in Sangin, officials said yesterday.

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Government forces have been trying to recapture the area from the Taliban, who say they control the district.


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The interior ministry said the Afghan army and police commandos launched an operation late on Wednesday, leading to the deaths of the Taliban commander and his fighters.


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Mohammad Jan Rasolyaar, deputy governor of Helmand province, took an unusual step last weekend by posting an open letter to Ghani on Facebook asking for help. They’re still able to conduct attacks in the middle of Kabul, as we saw only a little over a week ago when they attacked the Spanish Embassy in Kabul.

“Taliban rumors that they have captured the district are not true”, he said.

The Afghan forces had some support from the US, the spokesman for NATO’s Operation Resolute Support told CNN on Thurs.

GOV. MIRZA KHAN, Helmand, Afghanistan (through interpreter): The district is completely under the control of the government security forces. “There is intelligence failure, lack of coordination, huge corruption in terms of selling fuel, ghost troops and much else”, he said. For example, up to a quarter of the army’s troops are “ghost soldiers” who only exist on paper, so that officers can draw their pay.

>The 19th-century British army and the 20th-century Russian army could both have told them: it has always been easy to invade Afghanistan, but it has always been hard for foreign troops to stay there more than a couple of years.

“They were defeated even after the presence of thousands of troops and the same will happen with these few hundred troops, this means nothing else but a shameful humiliation for them”.

The Taliban issued a statement Thursday laying out conditions for a peace dialogue to end the war, now in its 14th year. “They are not deployed in a combat role and will not deploy outside the camp”, the statement said.

No further details have been given regarding the agenda of Gen. Sharif’s visit to Kabul, however it is expected talks will be held on the Afghan peace process with the Taliban group.

According to reports, a spokesman said Helmand is not only the province where Taliban have made gains.

“They [Taliban] put a lot of fighters a lot of weapons in Helmand province that is right in the border with Pakistan and most of the fighters and weapons come across the border, there is nothing that stops them”.

A senior Afghan militant commander has claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin held an unpublicised meeting with Taliban chief Akhtar Mansour to discuss possible Russian support for the insurgents.

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One year on, the region risks being overrun by the Taliban because of confusion, corruption and mismanagement in Afghan forces.

Afghan Taliban repelled in key Helmand district