Kabul: Fierce battles were underway on Tuesday between Afghan forces and the Taliban in southern Helmand province where the insurgents have almost completely captured a strategic district as Britain deployed military advisers to the restive area.
The development came a day after a Taliban suicide bomber killed six US troops near a Kabul base, the deadliest attack on Americans in the country since August.
A British Ministry of Defence statement late today said that “a small number of UK personnel” have been deployed to Helmand “in an advisory role.”
The UK has 450 troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO’s training mission. The Afghans were also sending reinforcements to Helmand on Tuesday, officials said.
Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said the security of Helmand was a “top priority,” according to his deputy spokesman Javid Faisal.
The Taliban have been getting closer to taking full control of the Sangin district for days, with most government buildings now in Taliban hands.
An official in Helmand said that only an Afghan army base in the district remained in government hands, and it was surrounded by Taliban fighters.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media about the operation, the official said Afghan commandos and special forces will try to “rescue those soldiers who are stuck in the base.”
Helmand is important to the Taliban.
The lush southern province is home to endless poppy fields and the source of much of the world’s opium, which helps fund the insurgency.
Sangin has particular resonance with the British as more than 100 of their 456 fatalities in Afghanistan since the start of the war in 2001 took place in the district.
The Afghan Ministry of Interior confirmed today that British troops had arrived at Camp Shorabak, formally the US Marines’ Camp Leatherneck and next door to the camp that was occupied by British forces until the international combat mission ended last year.
Afghan forces “need to strengthen their capacity and improve coordination,” Sediq Sediqqi, the ministry’s spokesman told reporters.
He said the main reason for the length of time it took to send reinforcements to the area was because of its remoteness and, during the summer months, the punishing climate.
“Taking on the responsibility for security from NATO and other international troops was a huge challenge for us,” Sediqqi said, speaking of the Afghan troops who now shoulder full responsibility for the country’s security. (AP)
