Taliban Commander Who Led Attack on Afghan City Was Released From Prison Last Year, Officials Say

KABUL—The Taliban commander overseeing an assault on the essential southern town of Lashkargah is one particular of 5,000 previous prisoners unveiled by the Afghan authorities previous year under pressure from the U.S., Afghan and Western officers say.

The commander, Mawlavi Talib, is one particular of thousands of previous prisoners freed to further more peace talks who have returned to the battlefield to join the Taliban onslaught versus metropolitan areas all-around the place, Afghan officers say. The existence of the Taliban fighters is a clean pressure in relations among Washington and Kabul, as the U.S.-backed authorities struggles to fend off Taliban assaults all through the place.

Afghan officers stated intense fighting ongoing Tuesday in Lashkargah, the provincial cash of Helmand province, right after significant U.S. airstrikes and a counterattack by U.S.-experienced Afghan commandos right away. Less than Mr. Talib’s command, hundreds of Taliban have pushed towards the town heart more than the past 7 days. On Tuesday they launched an attack on Lashkargah’s jail in a bid to launch additional inmates and recruit them into the battle.

The fighting in Lashkargah is part of a broader countrywide Taliban offensive that experienced captured half of the country’s remote districts by previous thirty day period and now threatens provincial capitals. On Tuesday, the authorities stated that its commandos launched a counterattack in the western town of Herat, whose defenses had been teetering. Taliban forces previous thirty day period pierced defenses in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s 2nd most significant town, but authorities forces are keeping steady there.

Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry stated Tuesday its forces killed all-around 375 Taliban and wounded 193 in fighting across the place in the previous 24 hrs. Eleven improvised explosive gadgets had been identified and defused, the ministry stated. The Afghan authorities has stopped releasing data on its have military services casualties to steer clear of demoralizing its troops.