As the Taliban’s insurgency in Helmand gathers fresh momentum, military leadership still appears reluctant to implement an important order issued by President Ashraf Ghani two weeks back giving a free hand to security forces to fight militants from a harsher standpoint.
This comes amid a surge in violence and an increase in opium trade which is believed to finance the Taliban’s war in the southern war-torn province.
Three days ago, the provincial governor Hayatollah Hayat pledged to implement the president’s war order, but troops battling the insurgents said they are still awaiting the go ahead to take an offensive approach.
Two weeks ago, Ghani said during an address in parliament, that the military leadership must carry out large scale offensives against militants raging war in the fragile province. However, the plan has still not been implemented. The reasons are unclear but this is putting a burden on the shoulders of the overstretched Afghan forces, said critics.
Critics also believe the delay in implementing the order is enabling the Taliban to expand its attacks on embattled Afghan security forces who are fighting the Taliban on multiple fronts and in some key districts in the province. This in turn is threatening the security of the provincial capital, Lashkargah city.
“Taliban launch sporadic attacks and they also plan landmines and we are fighting against them,” said Abdul Qayum, an army soldier.
Meanwhile, some Afghan veterans fighting the militants in the area have predicted that further delays in launching the operation would change the results on the ground as Taliban come with more attacks to gain territory.
“If we aren’t given orders to attack, we remain on the defensive. The enemy is on the offensive and they continue to increase their attacks. If we receive the order of attack, they go on the defensive,” said Mohammad Hussain, an army officer.
“Even if I have one drop of blood in my body, I will not let Taliban in this area. Now that we don’t attack, we haven’t received orders to fight, otherwise the Taliban cannot stand against security forces,” said Zainuddin, another army officer.
The hard-pressed Afghan security forces have been fighting the Taliban in their stronghold for years, something that has sparked sharp criticism and claims of poor leadership of the war.
In addition to reinforcements already sent to Helmand over recent months, the troop buildup has not proved effective enough to diminish the scale of threats, something that has raised concerns in the province in recent weeks. People fear the province could fall to the insurgent group.http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/25180-insurgents-extend-attacks-in-helmand-as-troops-wait-for-orders
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