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.
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Afghanistan’s embattled security forces needed worldwide military help, especially air support, which would help reduce casualties, Stanekzai told reporters.
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“A Taliban takeover of Helmand would be a huge blow to [U.S. and British] efforts and their egos”, said Orzala Ashraf Nemat, a Kabul-based academic.
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When asked by CNN of the reason, there was no response from Afghan officials even with repeated calls.
Tribal elders confirmed to ABC News that the deadliest place for US Forces in the deadliest province in America’s longest war is now back in the hands of the Taliban.
Speaking in Kabul, Afghanistan’s acting Defence Minister Masoum Stanikzai described the situation in Helmand as “manageable” and said fresh support troops had been sent in.
Sangin is an important poppy-growing district in Helmand, which borders Pakistan and sits on transport routes for drugs, arms and other lucrative contraband. Anytime, he issued a warning that all of Helmand could fall to the Taliban, if the President will not take action.
“US forces conducted two strikes in Sangin district, Helmand Province, December 23, against threats to the force”, US Army Colonel Michael Lawhorn said on Thursday.
“When the Taliban sees they’re making military progress, they’re not inclined to go and negotiate”, Ruttig said.
The insurgents are prone to exaggerating its battlefield successes, and Kabul officials denied that Sangin had fallen.
The battle continues between Afghan forces and the Taliban as the Afghan Taliban gain ground on Helmand Province.
The Taliban had control of most of the district yesterday, but it was only today that the last military base, along with the district police headquarters, were abandoned in the face of advancing Taliban forces. The return of British troops is poignant, as they suffered more than 100 of their 456 fatalities during Britain’s 13-year Afghanistan combat mission in Sangin. He said 12 members of the same family were killed by a roadside bomb as they were driving out of the district earlier this week, and rocket fire had landed on a house killing 17 people, including 10 children. The Taliban said the reinforcements showed the government’s desperation.
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.
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Instead, British troops, which are part of the UKs delegation to the United Nations Resolute Support Mission, were sent to the district of Sangin to help the Afghan forces. And the USA spent over $65 billion training the Afghan security forces so that western troops could take a backseat in the fighting.
