The Taliban have established a foothold in southern Afghanistan in a 10-day battle against Afghan forces, locals said Sunday, as the army and police struggle to prove they can defeat the insurgents without NATO help.
A coordinated assault by 800 Taliban fighters on police checkpoints and military posts began on June 19, with Afghan forces rushed in to recapture parts of Sangin district in Helmand province.
Despite government claims that the Taliban have been routed in a series of counter-attacks, Hashim Alkozai, a local elder, said that the insurgents had successfully defended two key areas of the district.
“The government has sent more reinforcements to Sangin, but the Taliban still have two parts, Barekzai and Bostanzai, under their control,” Alkozai said after fleeing to Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand.
“President Hamid Karzai has promised to send us some aid, but that is not enough, our people need food and shelter.”
Sangin, a strategically important district at the centre of Afghanistan´s lucrative opium trade, has been the scene of fierce fighting for years between the Taliban and US-led NATO forces.
