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Roundup: 50 militants killed in fighting for control of Afghanistan's southern Sangin district

Xinhua, December 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Afghan government officials said on Thursday that 50 Taliban militants have been killed since fierce fighting for the control of besieged Sangin district in the southern province of Helmand, a former Taliban stronghold, broke out Wednesday.

"The security forces backed by air power have killed 50 militants and injured scores of others since Wednesday evening," Helmand provincial governor Mirza Khan Rahimi told Xinhua.

The "situation is under control" and normalcy is returning to the district, the provincial governor said without giving any details.

Taliban militants have been tightening noose to overrun Sangin district and cut the supply line for troops in provincial capital Lashkar Gah, 555 km south of the national capital Kabul.

Meantime, an army commander in restive Helmand province, Abdul Manan Nijrabi, confirmed in talks with Xinhua that the air raids conducted by the NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Sangin Wednesday night left some 100 insurgents dead and injured.

Qari Yusuf Ahmadi who claims to speak for the Taliban said the outfit has inflicted casualties on the security forces in Sangin and other parts of the province.

But he did not comment on the situation in Sangin as claimed by the government.

Heavy fighting has been continuing in parts of the poppy growing province over the past six months, which has left thousands of families homeless, while claiming hundreds of lives including civilians, according to local officials.

"I was injured in fighting with armed Taliban in Sangin district six days ago and was taken out by helicopter from the area on Thursday," Border Police Force officer Abdul Wahab told Xinhua.

The same helicopter also evacuated six more injured security personnel and five dead bodies from Sangin district, Wahab added.

Acting Defense Minister Mohammad Masoom Stanikzai who described the current fight in Sangin as an imposed one said Wednesday that reinforcement had been sent to the besieged to dislodge Taliban militants from the area. Enditem