While media has continued to be dominated by the terrorist attack in Westminster on Wednesday, there was widespread coverage of news that the Taliban have retaken Sangin in Afghanistan.
Sangin
A number of papers including The Times, Independent, The Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Herald, Daily Telegraph and Guardian all report that the town of Sangin in Helmand province has fallen to the Taliban after a year-long siege. Papers note that Sangin is where more than 100 British troops died in the bloodiest fighting of the Afghan campaign. The Times says that despite help from US special forces and airstrikes, Afghan forces have been unable to break the Taliban siege. The same paper also notes that the UK still has 500 troops in Afghanistan.
The Daily Telegraph takes a different angle, reporting that NATO’s top commander has warned that Russia may now be arming militants in Afghanistan. Curtis Scaparrotti, the US’ top commander in Europe, said that he had seen “increased influence in terms of association and perhaps even supply to Taliban” from the Russians.
A Government spokesperson said:
UK personnel served with great commitment in Afghanistan, working with our international partners to remove terrorists who were plotting to do us harm.
Afghan forces have faced occasional reversals but they continue to secure the major population centres in Helmand. By continuing to support the Afghans on their path to a secure and stable state, we are ensuring that the sacrifices of UK personnel were not in vain, and we are making sure that the country is not a safe haven for terror.
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