Taliban overrun Sangin district in Helmand province

Taliban militants captured Sangin district of southern Helmand province of Afghanistan on Sunday night.

Around 400 army and police soldiers are besieged by the Taliban militants in Sangin district military base and they have closed all routes to the district, Hashim Alekozai – Helmand senate member said.

According to the reports the fighting is still underway across the district military base.

The district fall to the hand of Taliban after the deputy governor of Helmand in an unusual Facebook post asked Kabul for intervention and warned that the province may fall to the Taliban.

“I know that bringing up this issue on social media will make you very angry,” Deputy Gov. Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar wrote in a Facebook post addressed to President Ashraf Ghani.

“But I cannot be silent any more … as Helmand stands on the brink. … Ninety men have been killed in Gereshk and Sangin districts in the last two days.”

There was no immediate reaction on Rasoolyar’s post from Ghani’s office. The defense ministry in Kabul strongly denied that Helmand would fall and rejected claims of 90 deaths.

Helmand is among the volatile provinces in southern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgents are actively operating in a number of its districts.