British troops deploy to Afghan province amid Taliban battle

The government in Kabul said reinforcements had been dispatched to Sangin, while denying claims of large casualties and rejecting assertions that the district was at risk of being captured.

Fierce fighting in the Sangin district was continuing after the insurgents took control late Sunday, said Mohammad Jan Rasulyar, Helmand’s deputy governor.

More than 100 British soldiers were killed by Taliban militants in the town before our troops retreated in 2010, leaving USA forces to support the Afghan National Army.

A spokesperson from the MoD said: “As part of the UK’s ongoing contribution to NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, a small number of United Kingdom personnel have deployed to Camp Shorabak in Helmand province in an advisory role”.

USA and British troops had ended their combat mission in 2014, handing over all of their bases to Afghanistan’s security forces in Helmand province.

Last week, the Pentagon warned of deteriorating security in Afghanistan.

The development came a day after a Taliban suicide bomber killed six USA troops near a Kabul base – the deadliest attack on Americans in the country since August.

But without a political
solution to end the Taliban’s insurgency, Afghan forces need USA and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces to keep the
region from descending in to chaos. This week, Sangin, in the Helmand province, has reportedly been overrun by Taliban militants.

But the Afghan forces, he said, “will continue to get better”.

The unrest in Helmand comes as President Ashraf Ghani has pushed a diplomatic outreach to Pakistan – the Taliban’s historic backers – aimed at restarting peace talks with the insurgents.

Taliban forces have been making steady advances across Afghanistan since they seized the northern city of Kunduz and held it for the first two weeks of October, destroying numerous buildings and sending residents fleeing.

The fact this doesn’t appear to have been the case, Kiley says, not only has a symbolic significance, given the vast number of British troops who died trying to defend the town, it is also a great strategic loss.

Dawood said the fighting in the district had been going on for more than a month, but was in its worst stage in the past three days.

The attack happened around 1 p.m. when the attacker targeted a joint patrol of coalition troops and Afghan National Police officers in Parwan province near Bagram Air Field, Qudoosi said. Two soldiers were also wounded in the
ambush. It is thought around 65 percent of Helmand province is under the control of insurgents.

“It is vital that the national unity government demonstrates increasingly its effectiveness, not only to the Afghan people but also donors on whom it is largely dependent”, Nicholas Haysom said in a briefing to the UN Security Council. Helmand has been the scene of battles between insurgents and security forces for the later part of this year.

“We carried out some operations there last night as well”, Rahimi said.