Taliban attack kills 6 soldiers in Afghanistan as militants taking control in the south
A Taliban suicide bomber has killed six NATO troops at the Bagram base outside Kabul. The militant group has also conducting a broad offensive in the Helmand province, in south-eastern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, to the west, reports from the southern Afghan province of Helmand suggest Taliban militants are close to overrunning the strategically important town of Sangin.
Helmand’s governor, Mirza Khan Rahimi, insisted the authorities were still in control but his own deputy said that Sangin had been overrun.
Taliban attacking NATO troops in cartoon by Carlos Latuff
The Taliban said they controlled most of the town and the main administrative building had been abandoned.
The attacks targeting foreign troops happened in a village near the Bagram airbase. A suicide bomber on a motorbike approached a joint US-Afghan patrol and set off an explosive device. Local authorities and NATO confirmed that six of its troops were killed, with six more wounded, including several local policemen.
NATO says at least some of the victims were Americans, but in accordance with its usual policy, will not provide a detailed breakdown of the nationalities of the victims.
Governor Rahimi gave a news conference in Helmand’s provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, after his deputy, Mohammad Jan Rasulyar, told international news agencies Sangin had been overrun by the Taliban late on Sunday.
“The Taliban have captured the police headquarters, the governor’s office as well as the intelligence agency building in Sangin,” Mr Rasulyar told AFP. “Fighting is escalating in the district.”
Quoted by the Associated Press, he said casualties among Afghan security forces were high but he gave no figures.
The success of the militants has put the US strategy for Afghanistan under scrutiny. Washington withdrew most of its troops and has sought to keep those remaining in training and support roles, trusting national security forces with fighting the insurgents on the ground.
Flag of Taliban photo public domain
