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Afghanistan: Sangin Almost Entirely In Taliban Hands
By Paul Elliott Dec 24, 2015
By mid-afternoon Wednesday, the Taliban spokesman for southern Afghanistan, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, tweeted that "Sangin district has completely collapsed to the Taliban" and that insurgents have captured Afghan soldiers and ammunition.
The spokesman for the Afghan army in Helmand, Guam Rasoul Zazai, said that Afghan military airstrikes had also bombarded Taliban strongholds in Sangin overnight, killing 25 insurgents and wounding another 12.
The US has carried out two air strikes in support of Afghan forces today.
While they do not typically hold any territory they win for more than a few hours or days, the Taliban have dented the confidence of the overstretched Afghan forces, who are fighting the insurgency nearly alone for the first time.
"We already said that our forces are weak and need backup but because we have no communication with our forces, we don't know whether the Taliban have captured Sangin or not", Rasulyar added.
If the Taliban were not so busy fighting the rival Islamic State jihadis who began operating in Afghanistan early this year, they might now be within reach of overthrowing the Afghan government that the Western powers left behind when they pulled out most of their troops last year.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military advisers, including around 10 British troops, have been deployed to support Afghan forces battling to hold the town.
"When the Taliban sees they're making military progress, they're not inclined to go and negotiate", Ruttig said.
In September, the Taliban briefly overran the northern Afghan city of Kunduz in one of their biggest victories since 2001.
According to eyewitnesses, some government forces were still fighting in the district centre but are cut off.
Ken LeCain, principal of Statesboro High School, said in a statement posted on the school's Facebook page, "I will always remember him as a young man of high character with a great smile".
"When the British and USA forces were there, how many enablers did they have?"
Last year, the United Kingdom ended its 13-year combat operations in Afghanistan by handing over Camp Bastion to Afghan forces.
There have been widespread reports of desertion by Afghan troops after months of fighting, leadership confusion and a lack of coordination between army and police units. Officials have said casualties, as well as attrition and desertion, have taken a toll on numbers of government forces, while the Taliban strength seems never to diminish.
"Rumors about Lashkar Gah (falling to the Taliban) are totally baseless because we don't have fear of losing the districts, so there is no fear of losing the center", Abdullah said.
The latest unrest in Helmand comes as President Ashraf Ghani has made a diplomatic outreach to Pakistan aimed at restarting peace talks with the insurgents.
After announcing in July that its longtime spiritual leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, had been dead for two years, the Taliban saw a nasty internal fight over his successor.
By Paul Elliott Dec 24, 2015
By mid-afternoon Wednesday, the Taliban spokesman for southern Afghanistan, Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, tweeted that "Sangin district has completely collapsed to the Taliban" and that insurgents have captured Afghan soldiers and ammunition.
The spokesman for the Afghan army in Helmand, Guam Rasoul Zazai, said that Afghan military airstrikes had also bombarded Taliban strongholds in Sangin overnight, killing 25 insurgents and wounding another 12.
The US has carried out two air strikes in support of Afghan forces today.
While they do not typically hold any territory they win for more than a few hours or days, the Taliban have dented the confidence of the overstretched Afghan forces, who are fighting the insurgency nearly alone for the first time.
"We already said that our forces are weak and need backup but because we have no communication with our forces, we don't know whether the Taliban have captured Sangin or not", Rasulyar added.
If the Taliban were not so busy fighting the rival Islamic State jihadis who began operating in Afghanistan early this year, they might now be within reach of overthrowing the Afghan government that the Western powers left behind when they pulled out most of their troops last year.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military advisers, including around 10 British troops, have been deployed to support Afghan forces battling to hold the town.
"When the Taliban sees they're making military progress, they're not inclined to go and negotiate", Ruttig said.
In September, the Taliban briefly overran the northern Afghan city of Kunduz in one of their biggest victories since 2001.
Ken LeCain, principal of Statesboro High School, said in a statement posted on the school's Facebook page, "I will always remember him as a young man of high character with a great smile".
"When the British and USA forces were there, how many enablers did they have?"
Last year, the United Kingdom ended its 13-year combat operations in Afghanistan by handing over Camp Bastion to Afghan forces.
There have been widespread reports of desertion by Afghan troops after months of fighting, leadership confusion and a lack of coordination between army and police units. Officials have said casualties, as well as attrition and desertion, have taken a toll on numbers of government forces, while the Taliban strength seems never to diminish.
"Rumors about Lashkar Gah (falling to the Taliban) are totally baseless because we don't have fear of losing the districts, so there is no fear of losing the center", Abdullah said.
The latest unrest in Helmand comes as President Ashraf Ghani has made a diplomatic outreach to Pakistan aimed at restarting peace talks with the insurgents.
After announcing in July that its longtime spiritual leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, had been dead for two years, the Taliban saw a nasty internal fight over his successor.
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