The Taliban in Afghanistan continue to press the US -backed government as they overran a key district in Paktia province bordering Pakistan on Saturday, killing 30 members of the security forces. He said they were discussing plans to recapture the district.
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District governor Abdul Rahman Solamal told Afghanistan’s Tolo TV Sunday a prolonged presence of the Taliban in Janikheil would improve its mobility to threaten security in neighboring provinces.
The fall of the district comes after furious protests by the Afghan people against the central government’s inaction on the fate of the 200 soldiers who had been besieged in the area.
While the district governor is pushing for a quick counterattack, because he obviously wants his district back, the Afghan government is increasingly struggling to get enough forces into all the areas being attacked by the Taliban, with this just one of three major offensives ongoing on opposite sides of the country.
In the meantime the Taliban militants claimed that heavy casualties were incurred to the Afghan forces during the clashes that led to the fall of the district into the hands of the group’s militants.
The Taliban also effectively control or contest 10 of the 14 districts in Helmand, the deadliest province for British and United States forces in Afghanistan over the past decade.
Intense fighting has been raging in several northern and northeastern Afghan provinces, including Kunduz, Baghlan and Takhar while Taliban insurgents have also made significant advances in the southern Helmand province.
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The Taliban also effectively control or contest 10 of the 14 districts in Helmand, the deadliest province for British and United States forces in Afghanistan over the past decade.
