RESIDENTS FLEE AS AFGHAN MILITARY LAUNCHES LARGE OFFENSIVE AGAINST TALIBAN IN LASHKARGAH

Thu 05 August 2021:

Afghanistan’s military launches a massive offensive against the Taliban, in Lashkargah, the capital of the southern province of Helmand, Defense Ministry spokesperson Fawad Aman said on Thursday.

The Afghan military has initiated a massive offensive operation

“Clearing and offensive operations have started in Lashkargah city, the capital of Helmand province last night. Terrorists have no way to flee from Lashkargah, they will be killed,” the spokesperson said in a message posted on Twitter.

On Wednesday, he noted that the operation in the city is being carried out “slowly and accurately”, as the Taliban use residential buildings as shelters and “civilians as a shield.”

The fighting in Lashkargah reportedly picked up on Sunday. Several tv and radio stations in the province were shut down. On Tuesday, the Afghan national army called on residents to leave Lashkargah so that an operation can be carried out to clear the city of Taliban.

There has been intense fighting in recent days in the west and the south, while a bomb-and-gun attack in the capital Kabul killed eight people on Tuesday — followed by another smaller blast the next morning.

Dozens of civilians have died in the battle for Lashkar Gah, a city of 200,000 people that would be the Taliban’s biggest urban prize since they launched a nationwide offensive in May.

Afghanistan has witnessed a rise in violence in recent weeks as the Taliban stepped up its offensive after international troops began withdrawing from the country in May. The troop pullout was one of the points of an agreement – the the first in 18 years – that the radical group and the United States reached in Doha in February 2020.

FILE PHOTO

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