Afghanistan: ‘Dozens of Taliban killed’ in battle for Sangin

The Afghan Interior Ministry continued to deny reports that the Taliban had full control over the district, and claimed to have killed 50 fighters, along with a local Taliban commander, were killed in heavy fighting today.

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

Britain has also sent a small contingent of advisers to the region.

“If Sangin falls, much of the north of Helmand is very much under Taliban control”, he said. It sits on crucial smuggling routes for drugs, arms and other contraband which fund the insurgency.

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The Taliban have been fighting for control of Sangin for nearly a month, though the battle intensified a week ago as government reinforcements failed to arrive and Afghan security forces were pinned down inside an army base.

“Since the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation drawdown past year, the Taliban have gone from strength to strength”.

But Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed insurgents had overrun the entire district, pinning down Afghan forces in a military base where trapped soldiers reported dire conditions.

The attack on the airport, one of the most heavily protected bases in the country, underlined the Taliban’s ability to inflict serious damage on security forces, still shaken by the insurgents’ brief capture of the northern city of Kunduz in September.

“The Taliban have made big advances in Helmand province in summer and into the winter and the offensive is increasing”, he said.

Air drops of food and ammunition helped boost the defense, said Javid Faisal, deputy spokesman for Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

Sangin also borders Pakistan, where the militant group has military and financial support.

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

The fighting in Helmand, seen as the centre of the expanding insurgency, follows a string of military victories for the Taliban after North Atlantic Treaty Organisation formally ended its combat operations last December. Adoctor at a local hospital, said 41people (37 civilians and 4 soldiers) had been killed. “They are not deployed in a combat role and will not deploy outside the camp”, the statement said.

A suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden motorcycle into a joint NATO-Afghan patrol Monday, killing six American troops in the deadliest attack on global forces since August.

The ministry named the dead commander as Mullah Nasir, a confidant of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

“The problem is where the Afghan forces have to fend for themselves”, he said.

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