Lashkargah on the verge of collapse

KABUL (SW) – For the past two days, there has been intense fighting between security forces and the Taliban in Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province.

Lashkargah residents told Salam Watandar most areas of the city are under Taliban control and that fighting is currently taking place around key government positions and installations. They called on the parties to the conflict not to harm civilians and not to use people’s homes as bastions.

According to the residents, civilians have been killed in airstrikes and face-to-face fighting, and people are unable to bury the bodies of those killed due to the intensity of the fighting.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Karim Atal, a representative of the Helmand people in the Wolesi Jirga, said that the city needed special attention. He added that if reinforcements did not reach Lashkargah, the entire city would fall to the Taliban.


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On the other hand, Gen. Ajmal Omar Shinwari, spokesman for the security and defense forces, acknowledged that security threats had increased in Helmand, Herat and Kandahar, but said that forces stationed in those provinces were able to prevent the Taliban from advancing.

Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said clashes were taking place in Lashkar Gah and that the fighting ‘would end soon’.

Last night, a number of representatives and residents of Helmand met with General Bismillah Mohammadi, the acting Minister of Defense in Kabul, and called on the government to pay serious attention to the situation in the province.

On Sunday, a number of Helmand residents staged a protest rally in Kabul calling for an immediate end to the war in the province.

ENDS

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