The Taliban is back. In recent months, the Islamist group has been making military advances and taking over more territory in the Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan. The provincial capital Lashkar Gah is seen as a safe haven, but Taliban insurgents are near the city. U.S.-trained and equipped Afghan security forces are losing the initiative in the country's deadliest province.
"We have not met the people's expectations. We haven't delivered," Abdullah Abdullah, the country's chief executive, said in October at an Afghan National Security Council meeting, according to the Chicago Tribune. "Our forces lack discipline. They lack rotation opportunities. We haven't taken care of our own policemen and soldiers. They continue to absorb enormous casualties."
If the Taliban takes control of Helmand, it would be a strategic advantage. The province is an important opium producer and is located on the border with Pakistan, where the Taliban leadership council is based, according to the New York Times.
"There is no work opportunity in Lashkar Gah, and people are living with their relatives and they are becoming a burden," said Ghulam Farooq Noorzai, who leads the refugees and repatriation department, according to the New York Times. "And people are worried and not feeling safe even in Lashkar Gah because the battle is getting closer. We have problems in Babaji, which is a suburb that has turned into a frontline for one-and-a-half months, and the situation is not changing for the better."
While there is indeed trouble in the region, Afghan Defense Minister Masoum Stanikzai says the situation in "manageable" and that support troops have been sent into Helmand, according to E-Commerce Journal.
"Rumors about Lashkar Gah (falling to the Taliban) are totally baseless because we don't have fear of losing the districts, so there is no fear of losing the center," Abdullah said, according to GoSportTimes.
The Taliban resurgence comes amid internal division brought about by an announcement in the summer that Mohammed Omar, its leader, had been dead for more than two years, according to the Chicago Tribune. The resulting fighting between factions has ironically made the Taliban stronger due to its uncertainty and heightened violence and resolve.
The Taliban now controls, or has a heavy presence in, about 30 percent of the districts in the country, more territory than it has had since 2001 when it was deposed after the 9/11 attacks.
