Afghan forces battle Taliban
AFTER SEIZING large tracts of rural territory and capturing key border crossings, the Taliban have started assaulting provincial capitals with gruelling onslaughts.
THE TALIBAN inched closer to overwhelming at least two other provincial capitals, including nearby Lashkar Gah in Helmand province.
Kandahar, Aug. 1: Afghan government forces struggled against Taliban assaults on several major cities Sunday as the insurgents stepped up a nationwide offensive that saw a key airport in the south come under rocket fire overnight.
Hundreds of commandos were deployed to the western city of Herat while authorities in the southern city of Lashkar Gah called for more troops to rein in the assaults.
Fighting has surged across the country since early May when US-led foreign forces began a final withdrawal from Afghanistan that is now almost complete. After seizing large tracts of rural territory and capturing key border crossings, the Taliban have started assaulting provincial capitals with gruelling onslaughts.
The Taliban inched closer to overwhelming at least two other provincial capitals, including nearby Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. “Fighting is going on inside the city and we have asked for special forces to be deployed,” Ataullah Afghan, head of Helmand provincial council, said. Afghan security forces have increasingly relied on air strikes to push the militants back from cities even as they run the risk of hitting civilians in populated areas. “The city is in the worst condition. I do not know what will happen,” said Halim Karimi, a resident of Lashkar Gah, a city of 200,000 residents.
“Neither the Taliban will have mercy on us, nor will the government stop bombing.” Further west in Herat, fighting continued on the city's outskirts overnight with air strikes targeting Taliban positions, following another day of dramatic clashes between the insurgents and Afghan security forces bolstered by local militia fighters. Herat provincial governor’s spokesman Jailani Farhad said around 100 militant fighters had been killed in the attacks. —