Afghan Taliban signal growing strength with key district capture

KABUL: Taliban fighters have captured the strategic district of Sangin in the southern Afghan province of Helmand after security forces pulled out, leaving the district centre to the insurgents, officials said on Thursday.

Helmand, which accounts for the bulk of Afghanistan’s billion dollar opium crop, is already largely in the hands of the Taliban but the capture of Sangin underlines their growing strength in the south.

Scores of American and British soldiers died fighting in Sangin in some of their bloodiest battles following the 2001 US-led military intervention, and the loss of the district underlines the scale of the challenge facing the western-backed Afghan government and its international partners.

Afghan forces have struggled to contain the spreading insurgency since international troops ended combat operations in 2014, leaving them to fight largely alone.

With warmer spring weather beginning, increased fighting is expected across Afghanistan. Security officials warn that 2017 may be even tougher than last year, when both Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand, and the northern city of Kunduz came close to falling.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said Taliban fighters had captured police headquarters and a military base overnight, as well as quantities of military equipment after they were abandoned by retreating government forces.

He said the area had been bombarded by foreign forces following the withdrawal of Afghan troops and police, causing heavy damage to buildings and infrastructure.

The Nato-led Resolute Support mission did not respond to a request for comment about whether they were involved at all in the fighting or bombing of the site.

Omar Zwak, the provincial governor’s spokesman, said security forces had conducted a tactical withdrawal some 3 km from the district centre to avoid civilian casualties.