News / Afghanistan

15 Afghan police fall in Taliban attack close to Lashkar Gah

Tuesday, 10 May 2016 3:43 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 10 May 2016 6:08 PM ]

Afghan policemen gather near the entrance to a police station in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, December 28, 2015. ©AP

Fifteen Afghan police were killed in an attack by the Taliban militants on two checkpoints close to Afghanistan's southern city of Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province Tuesday.

A senior security official of Helmand released the number of fatalities, saying, “The situation is very critical near” the city.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official also called on the Afghan government to act soon, warning that otherwise “there will be a disaster.”

The casualties came after Taliban militants overran two checkpoints in the town of Girishk and the district of Nad Ali.

Bashir Shaker, a member of the provincial council, said Taliban has recently stepped up its raids against “security belts near Lashkar Gah.”

"The threat is becoming bigger minute by minute. If the government does not take action soon, we will witness the collapse of Lashkar Gah," Shaker stated.

Helmand, a Taliban heartland, has been the scene of fierce fighting for months as Taliban has stepped up its attacks there.

A military vehicle patrols in the Babaji area of Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand Province, Afghanistan, May 8, 2016. ©Reuters

On April 12, Taliban announced the start of its annual spring offensive against Afghan security forces and US-led foreign forces across the conflict-ridden country.

The militants dubbed the offensive “Operation Omari” in honor of the Taliban founder and long-time leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, who purportedly died at a hospital in Karachi, the main seaport and financial center of Pakistan, in April 2013.

Nangarhar blast kills 10

Meanwhile, a bomb attack outside the home of an anti-Taliban fighter in the eastern province of Nangarhar claimed the lives of at least ten people, security sources said.

Nangarhar police chief Zrawar Zahed said Tuesday that the casualties were caused after the bomber "detonated his explosives-laden car outside the house of a local 'uprising' commander this evening" in Nazyan district of the volatile province.

A spokesman for the Nangarhar governor confirmed that at least 10 "civilians" had been killed with 23 wounded in the fatal attack.

Sources say Malek Dehqan, the target of the attack, was among the wounded.

Afghan villagers who take up arms against the Taliban with the government's backing have remained a constant target of the militant group in various regions of the war-ravaged country.

Nangarhar also faces an emerging threat from loyalists of the Takfiri Daesh terrorists making gradual inroads in Afghanistan.

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