United Kingdom deploys more troops ‘in advisory role’ to Afghanistan

In a written statement, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter offered his condolences to the families of the slain American troops. On Aug. 22, three American contractors with the Resolute Support base were killed in a suicide attack in Kabul.

Three rockets were also fired into Kabul overnight on Monday.

The fact that the Afghan army is struggling against the Taliban has forced both the USA and the United Kingdom to deploy more troops, but with no mandate for combat.

An Afghan National Army soldier keeps watch during a battle with Taliban militants in the Nad Ali district of Helmand.

It was the biggest single loss of life due to hostile fire suffered by the USA military since the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation combat mission a year ago. The U.K. has 450 troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO’s training mission.

After months of heavy fighting, insurgents have reportedly taken back large parts of Helmand province, which had been controlled by mostly British forces before their withdrawal more than a year ago.

“The Taliban have captured the police headquarters, the governor’s office as well as the intelligence agency building in Sangin”, deputy Helmand governor Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar said.

He warned that all Helmand province could fall to the Taliban if the President didn’t take any action to save it. “We had to take to social media to reach you as Helmand is falling into the hands of the enemy and it requires your immediate attention”, Rasulyar wrote in his Facebook post to Ghani.

FILE – In this Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009 file photo, U.S. Army soldiers stand with Afghan policemen before a joint patrol of Qalanderkhail, outside of Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan. Military planes drop food and ammunition to besieged Afghan forces battling to push Taliban insurgents out of Sangin, two days after the militants stormed the opium-growing district.

Even away from the most intense battlegrounds, in southern and eastern Afghanistan, and with Afghan forces nominally taking the lead in the fighting, USA forces have remained at risk, with at least 15 service members killed this year before the attack on Monday.

The Taliban’s advance – and not just in Helmand – has highlighted the weakness of the Afghan authorities too.

The new deployment comes as the Taliban are said to be making new gains in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province.

Political analyst Haroun Mir said such incidents were an indication of “how remote the political elite have become from the reality on the ground”, obsessed with infighting and intrigue rather than fixing the country’s problems. They rarely hold territory for more than a few hours or days, but the impact on the morale of Afghan forces, and people, is substantial.

Sangin was a death trap for British soldiers from the moment they arrived in 2006 under plans by Tony Blair to tackle Afghan drug lords.