Coalition and Afghan forces have ousted the Taleban from Garmser and Naway-i-Barakazayi in the southern Helmand province. The Taleban had seized the towns earlier this week. According to reports, many people have fled the towns.



The coalition forces have suffered casualties with one soldier killed and two others injured in neighboring Uruzgan province .A statement purportedly attributed to the Taleban has threatened has threatened to intensify attacks, heightened mujahideen operations and opening new fronts against the ‘enemy’ in the coming few days Already hundreds of people have been killed this year.



The US-led forces will have their work cut out for them if the Taleban and its allies open new fronts. The coalition already has about 10,000 troops in Afghanistan but still the Taleban and its allies have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to strike at will.



It took hundreds of troops to re-capture Garmser and was similar to the one in Naway-i-Barakazayi, said General Ramatullah Roufi, an Afghan army commander. Two Afghan soldiers were slightly injured in the operation. The coalition and Afghan troops fought outside Garmser but met with no resistance once inside. Both the towns are a few miles west of Lashkar Gah, where the British military operation centre is based.



While the Taleban are concentrating around some of the smaller towns in remote areas, they do not have the capability to lay claim to any piece of land, US military spokesperson, Lt Col Paul Fitzpatrick was quoted as saying. A large-scale military operation by coalition and Afghan forces has seriously disrupted theTaleban fighters in the southern parts of the country particularly in the districts of Sangin, Musa Qala and Baghran in Helmand province.



Many lower and middle-rung commanders on whom the senior Taleban leadership rely on to intimidate villages, threaten elders and lead small bands of extremists to launch attacks on coalition and Afghan forces. A coalition soldier, whose nationality has not been disclosed yet, has been killed while 11 others were wounded.



Al-Qaeda and Taleban militants have gone on the offensive in recent months. Most of the violence has been around areas bordering Pakistan.



Image Credit: AP



Via: BBC