SAS sent back to Helmand as Taliban 'overrun' key town of Sangin

Taliban 'back in control' a year after British troops left 

British special forces have been deployed to help in the fight for Sangin

THE SAS and US special forces were last night supporting Afghan soldiers fighting the Taliban for the town of Sangin. They were sent in as the whole of Helmand province was said to be on the verge of falling to the extremists just over a year after British forces left.

British troops fought in Helmand for 13 years

The southern town of Sangin is where British forces suffered around a quarter of their 454 war fatalities and came to symbolise the bloody 13-year campaign. But the Taliban claimed to have seized back control of the stategic town and were also close to taking neighbouring Gereshk.

The fall of Helmand would be a bitter blow after the sacrifice of more than 450 British personnel

The head of Helmand’s provincial council, Muhammad Kareem Atal, said “around 65 per cent” of the region was now under Taliban control. Today Afghan forces were still holding out against heavily armed fanatics besieging the police HQ in Sangin for the third day.


Military planes air-dropped food and ammunition to the embattled troops. District police commander Mohammad Dawood said: “For the past two days we have been surrounded inside the police headquarters.
“We also have a number of injured troops and bodies here. In the last two days the fighting has been very heavy.”

Up to 60 US special forces and at least one SAS unit of around 30 commandos have reportedly joined the Afghan efforts to drive the Taliban back, and Nato air strikes are likely. The governor of Helmand denied insisted government forces were still in control as the battles continued. The defence ministry in Kabul also strongly denied that Helmand would fall.

Our Boys and Girls fought for 13 years in Afghanistan and lost 454 lives battling the Taliban. But Afghan forces have struggled to maintain the gains hard won by British and Coalition troops. Reports say the Taliban are also close to overrunning the neighbouring district of Gereshk, another spot where Brits fought valiantly.
There were claims over 90 Afghan forces had been killed in vicious clashes across the region in a matter of days. 

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Meanwhile in the east, a Taliban attack near Bagram killed six US soldiers yesterday. It was one of the deadliest attacks on foreign forces in Afghanistan this year. The plight for Afghan troops has become so desperate US special forces have been ordered to Helmand in recent weeks to assist to help the fight.

Security in Helmand has been plummeting for weeks, but became public after a bizarre move on Sunday by Helmand’s deputy governor begging President Ghani for help on Facebook. Mohammad Jan Rasoolyar wrote: “I know that bringing up this issue on social media will make you very angry.

“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.” The fall of Helmand would be a bitter defeat after the blood and sacrifice of British forces.

Maj Richard Streatfield, who spent seven months in Sangin in 2009 and 2010 with the Rifles, told the BBC it was "hugely disappointing" to see the town under threat again. He said: "I won't deny, on a personal level, it does make you wonder - was it worth it?

"Because if the people we were trying to free Afghanistan from are now able to just take it back within two years, that shows that something went badly wrong at the operational and strategic level."