</s>KABUL, Afghanistan — Heavy fighting was ongoing in western Farah province near the Iranian border Tuesday morning after Taliban fighters launched a predawn assault on Farah city, killing and wounding several Afghan troops.

The battle was underway in several areas of the city, Abdul Shakoor, a resident of the Bagh-e-Pul area, told Stars and Stripes on Tuesday morning. The Taliban had captured a police district on the city’s edge, he said.

“We are stuck at our homes, we cannot go out, and everyone is in great fear,” he said. “I can see the Taliban from my house. They are roaming in the intersections.”

Located along one of the country’s most lucrative drug routes, between Helmand province in the south and Iran to the west, the province has been embattled for months. Officials have warned of a deteriorating security situation as insurgents have entered the capital several times.

A resurgent Taliban, largely dependent on narcotics revenues, has expanded its territorial control over parts of Afghanistan since the withdrawal of most international combat forces at the end of 2014. They briefly captured and held the capital of northern Kunduz province in late 2015.

The attack on Farah is the first siege of a provincial capital this year. The insurgents failed to capture a single capital last year — a fact frequently touted by U.S. and NATO officials. In recent months, the U.S. has deployed additional advisers and carried out thousands of airstrikes in a bid to bolster the security situation in a strategy of renewed aggression.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement that “serious measures” had been taken to defend Farah after the militants launched their offensive from the city’s north side.

Security forces were sent to the city and deployed in various areas, the ministry said. At least eight insurgents had been killed and three wounded, it said.

“We assure the people of Farah that all the operations implemented, air force, commandos and all other units stationed in the western part of the country are taking action,” the Defense Ministry said.

The Taliban was asking the city’s residents to stay in their homes and promising they wouldn’t be harmed. Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, has said that their fighters started the attacks on the capital city about 2 a.m. and had captured an intelligence office, a police station and other checkpoints.

He said their targets are only the military facilities.

The Taliban have frequently claimed they try to avoid civilian casualties, but human rights organizations have counted thousands of civilian deaths caused by insurgent violence in recent years — many the result of Taliban attacks in populated urban areas.

The United States’ renewed campaign against the Taliban has so far failed to curb the group’s advance, which has occurred largely in rural areas, and the militants maintain strongholds throughout the south. Despite the pressure of greatly stepped-up U.S. and Afghan airstrikes, the Taliban have shown little interest in the Afghan government’s offer of a comprehensive peace agreement.

In January, NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, tasked with building up the Afghan government’s security forces, assessed that nearly 15 percent of the country’s 407 districts — more than 20 percent of the landmass — was under insurgent control or influence, according to a watchdog report released this month. It was the most since the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction began tracking district control data in late 2015, the report said.

Since the launch of the Taliban’s spring offensive last month, the group has carried out several attacks in the capital, Kabul, and battled security forces in several provinces, taking additional districts in recent weeks. An attack in Farah province late last week reportedly left more than two dozen security forces dead.

Early Tuesday, Ahmad Zaki, a doctor at the city’s central hospital, said that so far two dead police officers and 16 wounded security forces members had been brought to the medical facility since the start of the latest assault. Five wounded civilians were also being treated.</s>In Kabul, Afghan officials said they would expel the Taliban from Farah. “We are hoping to get control of the fighting in the city by today,” Gen. Mohammad Radmanish, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said in a news conference. “Our reinforcements are trying to use their capabilities to overcome the situation.”

The Ministry of Interior spokesman, Najib Danish, said the elite 444 Special Forces police unit was being deployed from Kandahar in the south. “We have the people of Farah by our side, they are backing us.”

Local officials in Farah, however, were less confident.

“The Taliban are in the city now,” said Mohammad Sarwar Osmani, a member of Parliament from Farah. “The city is closed, people are panicked and in a state of fear. Some people left their homes and fled the city, some are trapped. The fighting is ongoing in the city. The Taliban took control of some government buildings but some are contested right now.”

“I don’t know where the governor is,” Mr. Osmani added. “But I know the police chief might be in the front line fighting off the Taliban.”

Fareed Bakhtawar, head of the Farah provincial council, said that he was fighting with volunteers against the Taliban, but that they had taken large areas of the city. “There is no extra force to help us and the situation is getting worse,” Mr. Bakhtawar said.</s>Taliban fighters armed with captured weapons and night vision goggles have flooded into the capital of Afghanistan’s western Farah province, forcing the governor to flee and driving security forces and officials into a handful of besieged compounds.

Insurgents launched their attack on Farah city, near the Iranian border, around 2am, city residents said. Within hours they were within a few hundred metres of police and intelligence headquarters and had set up checkpoints on roads in and out of city, local officials said.

“Fighting is currently ongoing inside the city and we do not know about the condition of civilians,” said Dadullah Qane, a provincial council member for Farah, who said insurgents were trying to spring fellow militants from the provincial jail. “They are trying to break into the prison.”

Another senior official who asked to remain anonymous said the provincial governor had fled soon after the attack began.

Farah province is a key drug trafficking corridor that borders Iran and the opium-growing heartlands of Helmand. Hundreds of fighters based in Farah, Helmand and neighbouring Nimroz joined together to launch Tuesday’s attack.

The Taliban last month announced the start of its annual spring offensive – fighting ebbs and flows with the seasons in Afghanistan’s long war – by formally renouncing government calls for peace talks.

By late afternoon on Tuesday communications with the city had been cut. Afghan security forces said they were rushing reinforcements to Farah city, which Nato claimed was still under government control. A spokesman tweeted a photo of an A-10 fighter plane “on the offensive against the Taliban”.

The Guardian tried to contact nearly a dozen local security officials to verify the situation on the ground but was unable to reach any of them.

However, videos tweeted by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid showed Taliban insurgents walking freely through Farah, including one area that residents identified as “Provincial Square”, at the heart of the city.

Desperate civilians who fled the fighting, terrified both of Taliban violence and being caught up in counter-attacks by government forces, were stranded in the desert around nine miles (15km) outside the town.



“My family and Farah residents including women and children are here with no water and food. There is nothing,” said Abdulqader Karimi. “People here are sitting in their cars and those who do not have cars are here under intense sun.”

“[Everyone] left their properties behind. We could only save our lives by fleeing … the government is not telling us anything.”

Despite a Taliban promise not to kill or loot if civilians “remain in your homes and pray”, at least one resident said fighters had killed elders and Farah civilians with ties to the government and security forces. He saw bodies in the street as he fled, and family members weeping over their dead.

Farah residents who did stay in the city said they also worried about being caught up in fighting or being hit by airstrikes.

“Most people left the city before dawn. But some including me and my family are trapped. We want to leave but it’s so dangerous,” said one resident, who asked to give only his first name Rohulla. “As I’m talking to you, I can hear heavy gunfire.”

Tuesday’s attack is the first assault on a provincial capital this year, but analysts and politicians say the city should have been better defended, after three similar attacks by insurgents last year.

Insurgents have regularly tried to take provincial capitals, in attacks that serve both as a show of strength, and a chance to gather weapons and equipment.

In 2015 the insurgents briefly seized control of Kunduz, the fifth largest city in Afghanistan. The militants were ousted with days, but it was the first time the group had controlled a provincial capital since they were toppled from power in 2001, and a major shock to the government and its backers.

In subsequent years insurgents fought their way back into the heart of Kunduz and Lashkar Gah, capital of neighbouring Helmand province, but never fully displaced Afghan government forces.</s>Afghan government forces have pushed back the Taliban from Farah city, the capital of the western Farah Province, close to the Iranian border, an Afghan official says.

More than 300 Taliban fighters have been killed in the battle for Farah, provincial Governor Abdul Basir Salangi said on May 16.

He said 25 government troops also died.

Salangi said residents had begun clearing the city, including removing the bodies of almost 40 Taliban fighters.

The attack, the first major assault targeting a provincial capital since the Taliban announced its annual spring offensive, began early on May 15 when several security checkpoints were overrun after midnight, with the militants capturing one urban district and parts of another.

Special police forces from Kandahar and commandos from Herat were also deployed in Farah, Afghan officials said, as heavy fighting continued through May 15.

Afghan and NATO warplanes also took part in the battle.

Farah Province has been a key battleground for the Taliban for months. It borders Helmand Province, where the militants control several districts.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP</s>KABUL, Afghanistan -- Taliban insurgents launched attacks from multiple directions on the capital of Farah province in western Afghanistan near the border with Iran early Tuesday, killing and wounding "dozens" of security forces, a local official said. Fared Bakhtawer, head of the provincial council, said several security checkpoints in the city of Farah were overrun by Taliban fighters and that an intense gun battle was ongoing.

Bakhtawer said casualties were high among security forces, but couldn't provide a precise number.

"Security checkpoints around the city have collapsed in the hands of the Taliban, causing high casualties among security forces," he said.

Meanwhile, Abdul Basir Salangi, provincial governor, confirmed heavy fighting in the city. "An intense battle is going on in the city," he said without providing additional details.

Local reporters said the city was empty and shops, schools and government offices are closed as people hid inside their houses.

Mohammad Sarwar Osmani, a lawmaker from Farah province, said strategic security checkpoints around the city were overrun by Taliban and the insurgents were near police headquarters and the governor's offices.

Najib Danish, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said at least six security forces were killed and 12 others, including the deputy provincial police chief, were wounded in the attack. He said 10 Taliban militants were killed.

Reinforcements including commando units as well as the Afghan air force were battling Taliban fighters around the city, he said. "There is no danger of Farah city collapsing into the hands of Taliban," he added.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility. He said fighters launched attacks form multiple directions, after which they overran several checkpoints in the city. Farah borders Helmand province, where the Taliban controls several districts.

The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that Afghan security forces were able to repel their attacks.

In recent months, Farah province has been the site of many battles between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents. Local officials as well as tribal elders requested additional forces from the central government and more security from the province.

Separately, one local policeman was killed and another wounded after a bomb exploded in eastern Logar province, said Ahmad Khalid Safi, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

He said the attack happened late Monday night in Puli Alim the capital of the province.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Taliban are active in the province and has repeatedly claimed earlier attacks in the province.</s>Sporadic clashes between special forces and insurgents ongoing in parts of western city

U.S. and Afghan aircraft on Tuesday bombed Taliban positions in the western city of Farah after the insurgents launched a major attempt to capture the provincial capital, with fearful residents seeking shelter from explosions and gunfire.

Special forces from Kandahar and Herat were rushed to the city to take part in the fighting, which residents said began around midnight. Sporadic clashes were still ongoing late Tuesday, provincial council member Dadullah Qani told AFP.

It was the latest in a series of attempts by the Taliban over the past three years to capture urban centers. Afghan forces have been struggling to hold back the resurgent militant group since the withdrawal of NATO combat forces at the end of 2014.

Afghan officials and NATO’s Resolute Support mission said that the government remained in control, but the Taliban also appeared confident, posting a flurry of social media updates throughout the day that purported to show their fighters in the city. Farah province, which borders Iran, has been the scene of intense fighting in recent years, and there have long been fears that the city is vulnerable.

“The situation is very bad,” Satar Hussaini, a tribal elder in Farah, told AFP earlier. “Heavy fighting is going on and Taliban are in the city but the police headquarters and NDS [the Afghan intelligence agency] have not fallen to them,” he said. “NDS forces in their HQ are engaged in heavy clashes with the Taliban.”

Qani confirmed Hussaini’s comments. Gunfire and explosions could be heard as he spoke to an AFP reporter by telephone. The noise has “filled the city,” said one resident who gave his name as Bilal, adding that he could see smoke rising from the direction of a building housing the NDS.

NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Kabul said the government remained in control of the city. “Afghans remain in lead,” spokesman Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell told AFP. “Both Afghan A-29s and Mi-17s have conducted multiple strikes. U.S. forces have conducted one drone strike [MQ-9] and a show-of-force with A-10s. Dozens of Taliban killed.”

Defense ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said pockets of resistance remained, but “our forces are battling the enemy with high morale.”

With internet and mobile networks patchy, casualty figures were difficult to verify. Radmanish said four soldiers and “dozens” of insurgents had been killed.

At least some militants have been hiding in private houses, making it difficult for Afghan forces to use heavy weapons, Farah governor Abdul Basir Salangi told Ariana News, adding: “But still we are taking back positions one by one.”

Many radio and television channels in the province have stopped broadcasting, fearing for their employees’ lives, according to media watchdog Nai.

The insurgents in a statement warned residents to remain in their homes and “stay calm.”

The Taliban are stepping up their spring offensive, in an apparent rejection of a peace talks overture from the government. Farah is a poppy-growing province in an isolated region of Afghanistan.

There are plans for a section of the multi-billion-dollar TAPI [Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India] gas pipeline to traverse it, a project with which the Taliban have pledged to cooperate. But it has been the scene of intense fighting in recent years. In 2017, insurgents tried three times to overrun the capital, according to the Afghanistan Analysts Network. As such, Tuesday’s offensive “should not have taken government forces off guard,” said military analyst and retired general Atiqullah Amarkhail.

Amarkhail added that “even ordinary citizens were aware of the Taliban gradually taking over more areas and becoming a formidable force in the province.” He accused the government and military leadership of “turning a blind eye” until the insurgents actually entered the city.

Afghan troops and police nationwide have struggled to cope with unrelenting militant attacks in recent years, their numbers sapped by killings and desertions.

When asked about the issue, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that Afghan forces are actually being bolstered in the most important area—special operations forces. Speaking earlier this month, he said this expansion was why the Taliban had not taken any district centers or provincial centers.

The insurgents have tried several times to take provincial capitals in recent years, including Kunduz and Lashkar Gah, with the Afghan army deploying significant numbers of troops to hold those cities and push the militants out.

Kunduz, Afghanistan’s fifth largest city and capital of the northern province of the same name, fell briefly to the Taliban in 2015. They along with the Islamic State group have also stepped up their attacks in the capital Kabul, which the U.N. says has in recent years become one of the country’s deadliest places for civilians.</s>Afghan and NATO warplanes have bombed Taliban positions after insurgents attacked Farah city, the capital of Farah Province in western Afghanistan, close to the Iranian border, Afghan officials say.

The attack — the first major assault targeting a provincial capital since the Taliban announced its annual spring offensive — began when several security checkpoints were overrun after midnight, with the militants capturing one urban district and parts of another, according to provincial-council member Jamila Amini.

“Heavy fighting continues inside the city and aircraft have just started bombing Taliban positions,” Amini told the media by telephone from inside the city.

Special police forces from Kandahar and commandos from Herat had also been deployed in Farah, Afghan officials said.

The NATO-led Resolute Support mission in Kabul said in a statement that Farah remained under the control of the Afghan government and that U.S. A-10 attack aircraft were flying missions in support of the Afghan forces.

At least 10 insurgents and two members of the security forces had been killed so far, Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmnish said.

Mujahid said Taliban fighters launched a multipronged attack and overran a large number of checkpoints belonging to Afghan security forces in the city.

Farah Province has been a key battleground for the Taliban for months. It borders Helmand Province, where the militants control several districts.

Violence has spiked in Afghanistan since the Taliban announced the start of their annual spring offensive last month.

But the commander of U.S. Central Command, General Joseph Votel, said on May 11 that the Taliban “cannot win militarily.”

“The message I would send to the Taliban is that they cannot win militarily. The international coalition, led by the United States, is focused on providing the military pressure, in conjunction with social pressure and diplomatic pressure that will force them to come to the table,” Votel said during a visit to Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
• No Govt Building In Taliban Control In Farah: Danish</s>Afghan aircraft Tuesday bombed Taliban positions in the western city of Farah after the insurgents launched a major attempt to capture the provincial capital, with fearful residents seeking shelter from explosions and gunfire.

The attack — the first major assault targeting a city since the Taliban launched their annual spring offensive — began around midnight, with the militants capturing one urban district and parts of another, said local provincial council member Jamila Amini.

“(The Taliban) will fail,” vowed interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish, who said both Afghan and foreign air forces were taking part in the fighting.

There was no immediate confirmation from NATO’s mission in Kabul.

“The situation is under control and will change by the end of the day,” he said.

But inside the city residents reported clashes were continuing. “The situation is very bad,” Satar Hissaini, a tribal elder in Farah, told AFP.

“Heavy fighting is going on and Taliban are in the city but the police headquarters and NDS (the Afghan intelligence agency) have not fallen to them,” he said.

“NDS forces in their HQ are engaged in heavy clashes with the Taliban.”

Another provincial council member, Dadullah Qani, confirmed Hissaini’s comments, the sound of gunfire and explosions audible as he spoke to an AFP reporter by telephone.

The noise has “filled the city”, said one resident who gave his name as Bilal, adding that he could see smoke rising from the direction of a building housing the NDS.

The insurgents released a statement warning residents to stay inside their homes and “stay calm”.

Many radio and television channels in the province have stopped broadcasting, fearing for their employees’ lives, according to media watchdog Nai.

The Taliban are stepping up their spring offensive, in an apparent rejection of a peace talks overture from the government.

Farah is a poppy-growing province in an isolated region of Afghanistan. There are plans for a section of the multi-billion-dollar TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) gas pipeline to traverse it.

Despite security concerns, the Taliban have pledged to cooperate with the gas project.

Farah, which borders Iran, has been the scene of intense fighting in recent years. In 2017 insurgents tried three times to overrun the capital, according to the Afghanistan Analysts Network.

Afghan troops and police nationwide have struggled to hold back the resurgent Taliban since the withdrawal of NATO combat forces at the end of 2014.

The insurgents have tried several times to take provincial capitals in recent years, including Kunduz and Lashkar Gah.

Kunduz, Afghanistan’s fifth largest city and capital of the northern province of the same name, fell briefly to the Taliban in 2015.

They along with the Islamic State group have also stepped up their attacks in the capital Kabul, which the UN says has in recent years become one of the country’s deadliest places for civilians.</s>Afghan aircraft Tuesday bombed Taliban positions in the western city of Farah after the insurgents launched a major attempt to capture the provincial capital, with fearful residents seeking shelter from explosions and gunfire.

The attack — the first major assault targeting a city since the Taliban launched their annual spring offensive — began around midnight, with the militants capturing one urban district and parts of another, said local provincial council member Jamila Amini.

“(The Taliban) will fail,” vowed interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish, who said both Afghan and foreign air forces were taking part in the fighting.

There was no immediate confirmation from NATO’s mission in Kabul.

“The situation is under control and will change by the end of the day,” he said.

But inside the city residents reported clashes were continuing. “The situation is very bad,” Satar Hissaini, a tribal elder in Farah, told AFP.

“Heavy fighting is going on and Taliban are in the city but the police headquarters and NDS (the Afghan intelligence agency) have not fallen to them,” he said.

“NDS forces in their HQ are engaged in heavy clashes with the Taliban.”

Another provincial council member, Dadullah Qani, confirmed Hissaini’s comments, the sound of gunfire and explosions audible as he spoke to an AFP reporter by telephone.

The noise has “filled the city”, said one resident who gave his name as Bilal, adding that he could see smoke rising from the direction of a building housing the NDS.

At least some militants have been hiding in residential houses, making it difficult for Afghan forces to use heavy weapons, Farah governor Abdul Basir Salangi told Ariana News, adding: “But still we are taking back positions one by one”.

The insurgents released a statement warning residents to stay inside their homes and “stay calm”. They have also been posting images on social media they claim shows them inside the city.

Many radio and television channels in the province have stopped broadcasting, fearing for their employees’ lives, according to media watchdog Nai.

The Taliban are stepping up their spring offensive, in an apparent rejection of a peace talks overture from the government.

Farah is a poppy-growing province in an isolated region of Afghanistan. There are plans for a section of the multi-billion-dollar TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) gas pipeline to traverse it, a project the Taliban have pledged to cooperate with.

But it has been the scene of intense fighting in recent years. In 2017 insurgents tried three times to overrun the capital, according to the Afghanistan Analysts Network.

As such Tuesday’s offensive “should not have taken government forces off guard,” Afghan military analyst and retired general Atiqullah Amarkhail told AFP.

Amarkhail added that “even ordinary citizens were aware of the Taliban gradually taking over more areas and becoming a formidable force in the province”.

He accused the government and military leadership of “turning a blind eye” until the insurgents actually entered the city.

Afghan troops and police nationwide have struggled to hold back the resurgent Taliban since the withdrawal of NATO combat forces at the end of 2014.

The insurgents have tried several times to take provincial capitals in recent years, including Kunduz and Lashkar Gah, with the Afghan army deploying significant numbers of troops to hold those cities.

Kunduz, Afghanistan’s fifth largest city and capital of the northern province of the same name, fell briefly to the Taliban in 2015.

They along with the Islamic State group have also stepped up their attacks in the capital Kabul, which the UN says has in recent years become one of the country’s deadliest places for civilians.
Taliban forces claim to have taken control of the western city of Farah after two days of fighting. It is the second provincial capital to be temporarily taken over, after a similar assault on Kunduz in 2015.