Taliban gain ground in fight for Afghanistan's Helmand

Souce: ALJAZEERA


The Sangin district of Afghanistan's Helmand province has fallen to the Taliban just a day after Helmand's deputy governor used Facebook to plead with the Afghan president for help holding the group off.
Sangin fell to the Taliban after hours of fierce clashes that killed more than 90 soldiers in two days, an Afghan police spokesperson told Al Jazeera, with the Taliban taking over police and military installations.
The Taliban also confirmed the siege to Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera's correspondent, Abdullah Shahood, reporting from capital Kabul, said fierce clashes are still ongoing.
"However, the special forces unit has arrived and are planning a massive operations led by the Afghan forces.

"Some families have been displaced because of the clashes and many are trying to leave."

I cannot be silent any more ... as Helmand stands on the brink. Ninety men have been killed in Gereshk and Sangin districts in the last two days. Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, Helmand deputy governor

Afghanistan's chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, told a press conference on Monday that "an urgent meeting will happen soon to take immediate security action in Helmand".
"The action will repel enemy attack," he said.

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Helmand's deputy governor, Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar, had posted to Facebook on Sunday asking President Ashraf Ghani for urgent intervention to save a province that British and US forces struggled for years to defend.
"I know that bringing up this issue on social media will make you very angry," Rasoolyar wrote in the post, which was addressed to Ghani.
"But I cannot be silent any more ... as Helmand stands on the brink. Ninety men have been killed in Gereshk and Sangin districts in the last two days."
Local officials backed Rasoolyar's assertions, saying the Taliban were making steady gains in districts such as Sangin.
"These clashes between the Taliban and Afghan forces have been going on for many days now. The Taliban are not far from taking over the entire province as we see," Ali Ahmad, a Lashkar Gah resident told Al Jazeera.

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"The government is not taking necessary actions at all. If they did ahead of time, the situation would not have been this bad."
Responding to the post, deputy presidential spokesperson, Syed Zafar Hashemi, said the "President is aware of the Facebook post and is taking immediate necessary actions".
Hashmat Moslih, a political analyst and commentator on Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera that "the problem here is that the government is trying to make peace with the Taliban and not really having a military strategy."
"I don't think it is going to be a very permanent takeover of Sangin district by the taliban if the government can get its act together and come up with a quick strategy, and a strategy that is not only going to deal with Sangin as an issue in hand but as a long term strategy to have things in control in future.
"Then the government has a good chance of winning the district again," he said.
"However, I dont think the Taliban are currently in a position to hold areas for long."
Facebook frustration
The northern city of Kunduz briefly fell to the Taliban in September - the biggest victory for the group in 14 years of war. The fall of Helmand would deal another stinging blow to the country's NATO-backed forces as they struggle to rein in unrest.
This month marks a year since the US-led NATO mission in Afghanistan transitioned into an Afghan-led operation, with allied nations assisting in training local forces.
US President Barack Obama in October announced that thousands of US troops would remain in Afghanistan past 2016, back-pedalling on previous plans to shrink the force and acknowledging that Afghan forces are not ready to stand alone.
Rasoolyar is the second official to take to Facebook to air his frustration.
Afghanistan's spy agency chief resigned earlier this month after a scathing Facebook post against Ghani's diplomatic outreach to Pakistan - the Taliban's historic backers - aimed at restarting peace talks with the armed group.
Rahmatullah Nabil's resignation raised uncomfortable questions about a brewing leadership crisis in Afghanistan as the Taliban unrest gains new momentum.