Afghan Army fails to retake 10 districts fallen to Afghan Taliban despite fierce fighting
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KABUL - The Ministry of Defense (MoD) on Friday said following the deadly attack by the Taliban on Andar district in Ghazni province, Afghan security forces launched a military operation on Thursday night and that they pushing back the insurgents from the center of the district, TOLO news has reported.
In the last one week, Andar district in Ghazni and Maroof district in Kandahar were captured by the Taliban but the areas were retaken by security forces, the ministry said.
The defense ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said they have plans to retake those districts which have fallen to the Taliban.
“We have prepared a systematic plan for districts in Badakhshan, Zabul, Ghazni or other places and will implement them soon,” he told TOLOnews.
Ghazni Police Chief Mohammad Zaman said Taliban militants have suffered heavy losses in the military operation.
Taliban has rejected the claim in a statement released this week.
“We have killed many insurgents in our operations,” Zaman said.
Reports indicate that 10 districts in different parts of the country have fallen to the Taliban in recent years.
Yumgan and Wardooj districts in Badakhshan, Dahana-e-Ghori district in Baghlan, Kohistan district in Sar-e-Pul, Khanshin, Baghran, Musa Qala, Nowzad and Desho districts in Helmand and Khak-e-Afghan district in Zabul province have fallen to the Taliban over the past two years.
“Why government does not retake those districts that have collapsed in the past years,” Mutafa Arya Bakhsh, member of Uprising for Change movement, said.
“Presence of traitors in high positions in the security institutions has subjected the nation to high causalities,” Aasar Hakimi, another member of the movement, claimed.
In addition to the 10 districts, few other districts such as Zibaak district in Badakhshan, Baghlan-e-Markazi in Baghlan, Ghormach in Faryab, JaniKhail in Paktia, Andar in Ghazni and some other districts fallen to the Taliban few times this year and were retaken by the Afghan forces.
“The current security situation is out of control. Government is weak and cannot control the situation,” former military officer Mohsin Mukhtar said.
Government launched Khalid Operation at the beginning of this year to eliminate insurgents, but critics say security forces have failed to clear the 10 districts of Taliban in the past six months.
