Taliban advances on desperate Afghan resistance as UK and US deploy special forces

Reports in The Times and Wall Street Journal said the SAS and US special forces have been rushed to the battle to help retake lost ground in the province. The deployment reportedly includes at least one SAS unit of around 30 soldiers who were operating alongside American special forces and the Afghan National Army.

 

Sangin district, once the centre of operations for international forces in Afghanistan, has fallen to Taliban control several times over the years and fighting there has caused significant casualties among Afghan and international forces. It has been calculated that of the 450 British troops killed during the campaign in the country, more than 100 died in Sangin.

 

On 20 December, Helmand deputy governor Mohammad Jan Rasulyar launched a dramatic appeal to Afghan president Ashraf Ghani on Facebook about the dire security situation in Helmand province. Through the open letter, he claimed he had not received enough attention from authorities about the siege of Sangin district.

 

“We had to take to social media to reach you as Helmand is falling into the hands of the enemy and it requires your immediate attention,” Rasulyar wrote in his Facebook post to Ghani.

 

His statement was echoed by the head of Helmand’s provincial council, Muhammad Kareem Atal, who said about 65% of Helmand was now under Taliban control. He said: “In every district either we are stepping back or we are handing territory over to Taliban, but still, until now, no serious action has been taken.”

 

More than 2,000 security forces personnel had been killed fighting in Helmand in 2015. Taliban forces attacked Nad Ali, Kajaki, Musa Qala, Naw Zad, Gereshk and Garmser districts in Helmand in recent months.

 

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