Afghan forces fought the Taliban in Lashkargah, in southern Helmand province, as fighting intensified. The frontline was in District 1, where the US launched an airstrike on Monday morning. According to Tolo News, Helmand legislators have stated that the clashes in District 1 are aimed at capturing the district governor’s compound, as well as the prison and police headquarters. According to the news channel, Shogufa Nawrozi, an MP from Helmand, said, “If the situation continues, Lashkargah will fall soon.”
The fighting erupted just hours after the Aghan government announced the deployment of hundreds of commandos in the region. “Lashkargah is in the midst of a battle. The security forces are in bad shape there,” Mohammad Jami, a Helmand civil society activist, was quoted by the news channel as saying.
Another provincial civil society activist claimed that the Taliban are hiding in people’s homes and using them as human shields.
According to Tolo News, the Taliban has taken control of 12 districts in Helmand, except Kajaki, and nine out of ten districts in Lashkargah, citing sources familiar with the situation. They also said that Matiullah Popal, the acting police chief for Helmand’s Nawzad district, was killed on Monday morning while fighting the Taliban in Lashkargah.
On Monday, nine bodies and eight wounded were taken to the Emergency Hospital in Lashkargah, according to the Tolo News report.
According to Doctors Without Border, the death toll in Lashkar Gah was rising. “In densely populated areas, there has been constant gunfire, air strikes, and mortars. Houses are being bombed, and many people have been injured severely “In a statement, Sarah Leahy, the medical charity’s Helmand coordinator, said
The Taliban has sustained heavy casualties in the clashes raging in Helmand, the Afghan defense ministry has said. At least 40 Taliban terrorists were killed in an airstrike on Lashkargah city by the US, the Afghanistan ministry of defence has said. “Air forces conducted two airstrikes at 06:10 pm and 07:05 pm on gatherings of Taliban terrorists in two parts of Lashkargah,” Maiwand 215th Corps tweeted.
