At least 40 civilians killed, more than 100 injured in city besieged by Taliban in Afghanistan

Afghan government forces clashed with the Taliban on Tuesday for control of the strategic southern city of Lashkar Gah, in fierce fighting that left at least 40 dead and more than 100 injured., according to the UN.

The Afghan army has called on residents of the provincial capital of Helmand to evacuate the city in an attempt to expel the Taliban.

“We ask them to leave their homes as soon as possible so that we can start our operation”said the general Sami Sadat to the residents of Lashkar Gah in a message to the media.

At least 40 civilians have been killed and 118 injured in the past 24 hours in the fighting in this town, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama in English).

Unama told him “Deep concern for Afghan civilians in Lashkar Gah”, where clashes “intensify” between “The Taliban who are continuing their offensive on the ground and the Afghan army which is trying to push them back”.

“The Taliban’s ground offensive and the airstrikes of the ANA (Afghan National Army) are causing a lot of damage”Unama added on Twitter.

The ultra-conservative Islamic group has taken control of many rural areas since foreign forces announced their withdrawal from Afghanistan in early May, but they met with new resistance in the provincial capitals.

Government sources reported that the insurgents seized power from a dozen local radio and television stations in Lashkar Gah, only allowing broadcast to a protaliban network that broadcasts Islamic programs.

“There was intense fighting this morning”said Sefatullah, director of Sukon radio in the capital of Helmand, a station captured by the Taliban.

“We stopped broadcasting two days ago when the Taliban took control of the building where the radio is located”he explained.

“Terrorists don’t want the media to publish their actions and show their abuses”said the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture.

“The American B52s and the Afghan Air Force attacked the positions of the Taliban”Sefatullah said, while explaining that the fighting was taking place near the city prison and a building that houses the headquarters of the police and intelligence services.

The Defense Ministry said on Monday that the US Air Force was carrying out attacks on Lashkar Gah, an effort to contain the advance of the Taliban.

The loss of Lashkar Gah would mean a major strategic and psychological blow for the government, who has vowed to defend cities at all costs after losing control of large rural areas over the summer.

In Herat, another besieged city, hundreds of neighbors chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater) on the rooftops, after government forces repelled the latest Taliban assault.

Afghan officials said government troops were able to repel insurgents in various parts of Herat, including close to the airport, a key area for supplies.

“The Afghan security and resistance forces have launched a major operation in the west of the city”, he told the news agency AFP the spokesperson of the Herat government, Jailani Farhad |.

“War crimes”

The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday accused the Taliban of having committed “war crimes” for “massacre of civilians” in the town of Spin Boldak., near the border with Pakistan, which fell to the insurgents in mid-July.

The charges come after a report of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), public body.

In its report, the AIHRC says that “found that after taking the Spin Boldak district, the Taliban searched and identified government officials past and present, and killed people who had no role as combatants ”.

The US Secretary of State, Antoine Blink, also indicted a week ago against the Taliban leadership.

“An Afghanistan which does not respect the rights of its people, an Afghanistan which commits atrocities against its own people would become a pariah state”Blinken said.

Tuesday, the NGO Save the children claimed that the fighting in the country had led to the displacement of 80,000 children since the beginning of June, as well as damage to many schools and health facilities.

(With information from AFP)

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