Afghan government officials in Helmand on Saturday continued to reject claims that civilians had been killed in Sangin. In all of Helmand, the Afghan Air Force conducted 114 airstrikes in the past three months, said Gen. Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry. Hajji Mohammad Dawod, an elder from the Sangin district who fled to Lashkar Gah because of the fighting, said the airstrikes destroyed houses near a mosque where Taliban were staying and killed 22 civilians. Gen. John W. Nicholson, the commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, last week described the war as a stalemate and expressed concern about the level of casualties the Afghan forces had been suffering. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, he said he would need a “few thousand” more troops to help the Afghan forces break the deadlock.

Source: New York Times February 11, 2017 17:05 UTC