Attack on U.S. troops near Afghan airport deadliest in months

The attack on Monday comes as Taliban forces are poised to overrun the strategic town of Sangin in the southern Helmand province.

Sangin was handed over to American forces five years ago – and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ended its combat mission in Afghanistan a year ago.

On Sunday, the deputy governor of Helmand, Jan Rasulyar, sent a plea to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Facebook warning a threat from the Taliban was imminent.

In the east, a Taliban attack near Bagram on Monday killed six USA soldiers. Among the 450 British troops killed during the country’s combat mission in Afghanistan, more than 100 died in Sangin.

After several days of intense fighting in Helmand, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid tweeted Monday night that its fighters had “conquered” the Sangin bazaar and police headquarters and were entering the district center.

Carter said the attack served as a “painful reminder of the dangers our troops face everyday in Afghanistan”.

The Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the strike, remains resilient 14 years after the start of us military engagement in Afghanistan.

The head of the District of Bagram, Abdul Sadek Kundusi, said among the victims were Americans, but also Europeans.

“As I saw firsthand during my visit to Afghanistan last Friday, our troops are working diligently alongside our Afghan partners to build a brighter future for the Afghan people”, Carter said in a statement. One of the attacks, on a US special operations forces base, killed one U.S soldier and eight Afghan civilian contractors. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner, the Resolute Support deputy chief of staff for communications, said in a statement.

British troops have been deployed to Afghanistan to help local forces as they fight to take control of a key town after it fell back under Taliban control, ITV reported. Afghan security forces moved to Helmand province in an effort to defeat the terrorists and during the weekend, at least 90 Afghan security personnel were killed during heavy fighting against the militants.

“The Taliban onslaught in Sangin is not just a military gain but also a huge propaganda score for the insurgents”, Kabul-based political analyst Haroon Mir said.

The Taliban said they controlled most of Sangin town and the main administrative building had been abandoned. Insurgents are also believed to be dug in on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah. The takeover was short-lived, but Afghan troops – which the remaining USA troops are trying to train and make self-sufficient – are still having difficulties fending off the Taliban.

The latest unrest came as the United Nations envoy to Afghanistan warned that the country would need to prove itself worthy of global support in the coming year, with worldwide resources stretched to the limit amid a series of humanitarian crises.