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Afghanistan: Sangin almost entirely in Taliban hands | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Latest reports from southern Afghanistan suggest that Sangin district in Helmand province is now almost entirely under Taliban control after days of fierce fighting. | |
The police headquarters and the main government building fell to the Taliban on Wednesday, a local senator said. | |
The Taliban say their fighters have seized the entire district. | |
However, the Afghan defence ministry said fighting was continuing and that reinforcements had been sent. | However, the Afghan defence ministry said fighting was continuing and that reinforcements had been sent. |
Sangin saw almost a quarter of British military fatalities during the UK's combat mission in Afghanistan. | |
District governor Haji Suliman Shah told the BBC he had been airlifted from the district HQ to Shorabak base - formerly Camp Bastion - in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah early on Wednesday, along with 15 wounded security force members. | |
A few hundred police and soldiers have taken refuge at an army barracks about 7km (four miles) from Sangin, and are besieged there. | |
Why Sangin matters | Why Sangin matters |
Read more about Sangin | Read more about Sangin |
Harsh lessons from Sangin | Harsh lessons from Sangin |
Who are the Taliban? | Who are the Taliban? |
Ashuqullah, a police officer at the barracks, told the BBC the "entire" town was controlled by militants. "We have not seen any help," he said. | |
"Support troops have been airdropped at a distance... but all roads are blocked and in the militants' control," he added. | "Support troops have been airdropped at a distance... but all roads are blocked and in the militants' control," he added. |
There were many wounded at the barracks needing urgent evacuation, he said. | |
Speaking in Kabul, Afghanistan's acting Defence Minister Masoum Stanikzai described the situation in Helmand as "manageable" and said fresh support troops had been sent in. | |
Afghan government forces had been "thinly spread" over the whole country, he said, and had been trying their best to hold all areas. | |
A small contingent of British troops has been sent to Helmand "in an advisory role," the British government said on Tuesday. | |
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed on Wednesday: | A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, claimed on Wednesday: |
"The Sangin district centres, its police HQ, and other establishments were under continued attacks of the mujahideen and today... with God's grace the district was fully captured by the mujahideen. | "The Sangin district centres, its police HQ, and other establishments were under continued attacks of the mujahideen and today... with God's grace the district was fully captured by the mujahideen. |
"The white flag of the Islamic emirate is at full mast at the district now.'' | "The white flag of the Islamic emirate is at full mast at the district now.'' |
Haji Daud, the head of the Sangin district people's council, told the BBC that Sangin residents had fled the district to neighbouring areas. | Haji Daud, the head of the Sangin district people's council, told the BBC that Sangin residents had fled the district to neighbouring areas. |
Responding to the defence minister's claims, he said: "Those whose family - brothers and siblings and parents - are not fighting on the front, they always say the situation is not dangerous in the area..." | Responding to the defence minister's claims, he said: "Those whose family - brothers and siblings and parents - are not fighting on the front, they always say the situation is not dangerous in the area..." |
"Those who make such comments do not care to defend Helmand." | "Those who make such comments do not care to defend Helmand." |
Pharmacy owner Sarwah Shah, who fled to Lashkar Gah, told the BBC that all of the families living on his street in Sangin - around 20 to 30 houses - had fled. | |
Another resident Agha Wali said he had fled Sangin with his children two days ago. He had had to leave all his possessions behind, he said. | |
The Taliban have already seized control of all but two districts in Helmand. | |
On Monday the deputy governor of Helmand complained of a lack of government support in an open letter on Facebook to President Ashraf Ghani. | |
"Helmand will collapse to the enemies and it's not like Kunduz, where we could launch an operation from the airport to retake it. That is just impossible and a dream," he wrote. | |
In September, the Taliban briefly overran the northern Afghan city of Kunduz in one of their biggest victories since 2001. |