- Title: Car bomb kills at least 10 police in besieged Afghan city
- Date: 10th October 2016
- Summary: MOKHTAR VILLAGE, LASHKAR GAH, AFGHANISTAN (OCTOBER 10, 2016) (REUTERS) AFGHAN ARMY ENGAGED IN BATTLE AGAINST SUSPECTED TALIBAN FIGHTERS ARMOURED TANK FIRING TOWARD SUSPECTED TALIBAN FIGHTERS VARIOUS OF AFGHAN MILITARY BATTLING SUSPECTED TALIBAN FIGHTERS DEAD BODY / AFGHAN MILITARY PERSONNEL STANDING IN BACKGROUND AFGHAN MILITARY ARMOURED VEHICLES (SOUNDBITE) (Pashto) COMMANDER OF AFGHAN FORCES IN MOKHTAR AREA, ESMATULLAH FEROZ, SAYING: "A number of enemy fighters have come to this area, which is called Mokhtar area, and they have occupied some checkpoints. We launched an operation and retook the area from them. We pushed them back as you see, we have control now over Mokhtar area and Taliban have been pushed away."
- Embargoed: 25th October 2016 18:38
- Keywords: Lashkar Gah Afghanistan blast bomb police
- Location: LASHKAR GAH, AFGHANISTAN
- City: LASHKAR GAH, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Bombing (non-military)
- Reuters ID: LVA00153FBZNR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
Afghan police supported by armoured vehicles fought with suspected Taliban fighters in the outskirts of Lashkar Gah on Monday (October 10), after a suspected car bomb killed at least 10 police amid increased Taliban attacks on the besieged capital of the southwestern Afghan province of Helmand, with the toll expected to rise, a security official said.
"A number of enemy fighters have come to this area, which is called Mokhtar area, and they have occupied some checkpoints. We launched an operation and retook the area from them. We pushed them back as you see, we have control now over Mokhtar area and Taliban have been pushed away," the commander of Afghan forces in the area, Esmatullah Feroz, said.
The blast, in the city of Lashkar Gah, killed 10 police officers, with at least 14 police and civilians wounded, said the official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak publicly.
A hospital run by the Italian charity Emergency said it had received 30 casualties from the blast, including civilians and security forces.
Hospital officials expressed concern over worsening conditions in Lashkar Gah, with reports of increased Taliban attacks on the outskirts, and rockets landing inside the city.
Taliban militants, who have been fighting a 15-year insurgency to topple the Western-backed government and reimpose a radical Islamist regime, control or contest most of Helmand, the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting during the international military mission in Afghanistan.
On Saturday (October 8), a high-level delegation of Afghan and international military officials visited Lashkar Gah, promising to do everything possible to prevent its collapse.
Afghan elders who met with the delegation, however, criticized government strategy in the province, as well as the performance of Afghan security forces, some of whom are accused of abandoning their posts.
The NATO-led coalition has stepped up the number of military advisers working with the Afghan forces in Helmand, while American troops have been given freer rein to use more air strikes in a bid to prevent a total collapse of Afghan defences. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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