The fall of Sangin district, once considered the deadliest battlefield for British and U.S. troops in Afghanistan, comes amid the insurgents’ year-long push to expand their footprint in the Taliban heartland of Helmand. The district’s police chief, Mohammad Rasoul, said the Taliban overran Sangin centre early on Thursday morning. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, also issued a statement claiming the Taliban capture of Sangin. “We are preparing our reinforcements to recapture the district,” Rasoul said. He also claimed that the attacker and the Taliban gathered the bodies of the dead policemen and set them on fire.

Source: National Post March 23, 2017 15:22 UTC