TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Afghan official: Police refuse to return to fight Taliban
Afghan security forces patrol in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Dec
Change Size
Afghan security forces patrol in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Dec. 22. When Afghanistanâs President Ashraf Ghani took office, he ushered in a period of hope for the countryâs traumatized and war-weary people that decades of violence would soon end. But just one year later, many Afghans now believe the Taliban are winning the war as British troops deploy to the southern Helmand to help beleaguered Afghan troops regain control of a strategically important district in the poppy-producing province. (AP/Abdul Khaliq) (AP/Abdul Khaliq)
A
span class="inline inline-center">Afghan security forces patrol in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Dec. 22. When Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani took office, he ushered in a period of hope for the country's traumatized and war-weary people that decades of violence would soon end. But just one year later, many Afghans now believe the Taliban are winning the war as British troops deploy to the southern Helmand to help beleaguered Afghan troops regain control of a strategically important district in the poppy-producing province. (AP/Abdul Khaliq)
An Afghan official says police are refusing to go back on the streets of a volatile southern district under Taliban attack, claiming that promised government help has not yet arrived.
Karim Atal, the Helmand's provincial council director, said Tuesday that security forces are for now staying inside their base in Sangin district, where government forces have been fighting a Taliban takeover attempt for weeks.
Atal denied reports that police had fanned out from the base for a clearing operation in Sangin, an opium poppy-growing district producing a cash crop for the Taliban.
Taliban attempts to overrun Sangin peaked last week when fighters besieged the base, cutting off supply lines of troops, ammunition and food.
Reports later said that reinforcements, backed by US airstrikes, were subsequently deployed and broke the siege. (kes)(+)
