Britain Sends Military As Taliban Threaten Town

He spoke on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Two others were wounded along with an Afghan when an attacker rammed an explosives-laden motorcycle into their patrol in a village near the airfield.

Early on Monday morning the Taliban stormed police headquarters in Sangin, a western official with knowledge of the province said, citing local sources.

Detective Joseph Lemm was among six US troops killed at the Bagram air base.

Mohammad Dawood, the district police commander, previously told the BBC the Taliban had totally cut the facility away in the remaining state, and weapons and food supplies were running low.

The fall of Helmand would deal another stinging blow to Afghan forces who have struggled to rein in the ascendant insurgency without the full backing of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces.

Afghan forces “need to strengthen their capacity and improve co-ordination”, Sediq Sediqqi, the ministry’s spokesman told reporters.

Among the insurgent forces in Helmand, “three out of 10 are foreign fighters, ” he said, adding that they included Pakistanis, Chechens, Uzbeks, Arabs and Chinese Uighurs.

Attal said the Taliban leadership, based in Pakistan, decided six months ago to seize Helmand and base more of the insurgent command there. The town of Sangin was the scene of fierce fighting during the Afghan campaign, with more than 100 British troops dying in and around the town. Since the beginning of this year, foreign troops are officially only for the training of the Afghan security forces in the country.

Mr Atal was quoted by AP as saying that “around 65%” of Helmand was now under Taliban control.

The Helmand governor and police dismissed Taliban reports that it now controlled it as “totally false”. For weeks now, members of the Taliban have also been holed up in Babaji, a suburb of Lashkar Gah. Two other foreigners working at the base have died this year in attacks, including one Georgian soldier, reported the Telegraph. The suicide bomber on a motorbike struck a patrol near Bagram air base.

He said more than 2,000 members of the security forces had been killed fighting in Helmand in 2015.

The paper says the SAS and American forces are fighting to take control of the town. The statement also said that 19 American “occupiers” were killed and “a huge number” wounded.

Last week, the Pentagon warned of deteriorating security in Afghanistan and assessed the performance of Afghan security forces as “uneven and mixed”. This has stretched government resources, leading to high casualties and low morale. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after more than 14 years, militants are continuing their deadly attacks across the country.