Dozens of Taliban killed in battle for Sangin: Afghan Interior Ministry

Sangin is a prize for the Taliban as it sits on routes for drug, arms and other contraband that fund the insurgency.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said insurgents had overrun the whole of Sangin, pinning down Afghan forces in a military base where trapped soldiers reported dire conditions.

Security has worsened across the war-torn country as the Taliban stepped up their opposition to Afghan security forces following the end of the worldwide combat mission a year ago.

The raid coincided with President Ashraf Ghani’s visit to Islamabad on Wednesday for the Heart of Asia conference, where he made a plea for more support from neighbours to fight the growing insurgency.

Afghan police keep watch during an ongoing battle with Taliban militants in the Marjah district of Helmand Province, on December 23, 2015. Officials said fighters attacked a perimeter area of the huge and heavily fortified complex on Tuesday evening, initially taking up position in a school in a residential area, which houses both a civilian airport and military base.

“Generally, the government, and the parliament, judicial power, we all are working together unitedly, unanimously towards the peace talks and peace process”, said Khalid Pashtoon, member, Afghan National Assembly.

The Taliban already held three Helmand districts as well as large parts of the rest of the province outside the main centres and control strategic roads, making it hard to reinforce and resupply security force units cut off by their advance.

It was strategically important because it linked Lashkar Gah, the Helmand capital, to districts in the north, he said.

“It is both the government and the Taliban who are doing the killing”, Hamdard said.

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. It also led to deep fissures in the group’s leadership, further muddying the waters about just who the Afghan government should be talking to when the time comes. The second round, was expected to take place on July 31, but was cancelled due to the announcement of Mullah Mohammad Omar’s death.

“This is an issue that has to be clear in the negotiating process”, Mr Muzhda said.

The Taliban statement listed barriers to peace negotiations, including United Nations sanctions on individual Taliban figures which were extended this week, and the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, with specific mention of the British troops that arrived in Helmand on Wednesday to provide support for Afghan forces battling in Sangin.