LASHKARGAH (SW): After days of intense fighting, the Nawa district of southern Helmand province has finally fallen to the Taliban.
Abdul Wadood, a Wolesi Jirga (lower house) member from Helmand has said that the district was under the siege of the Taliban for the past four days. He asserted that the concerned organizations were time and again warned about the inevitable but no one took the threat seriously. As per his information, the district police chief Ahmad Shah Salem and ten more policemen have lost their lives in the clashes in Nawa.
“The district police chief was in contact with me on the mobile phone, he told me that the district has been under the siege of the Taliban but no one came for their rescue, and the Taliban overrun the district following a group attack”, he said.
Meanwhile, Umar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, while acknowledging the police casualties, has said that a large number of Taliban militants have also lost lives in these clashes. He added that additional ground and air power has been deployed to the district in a bid to reclaim it.
Abdul Jabbar Qaharman, another member of the house from the province was sent to Helmand few months ago to bring the situation under control. He has expressed readiness and competence to suppress the rebels in this part of the country.
This is the sixth district in the province falling to the Taliban.
ENDS
