Civilians bear brunt of fighting in Afghanistan
(5 Aug 2021) Caught in the fighting between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents, ordinary Afghan people pay the ultimate price. As the battle for the city remains at a stalemate despite days of ground and air operations. Afghan security forces have set up check posts in Kandahar, searching for Taliban insurgents trying to inflate the city. Kandahar provincial health department director, Dr. Mohammad Tawos Ashraf Naderi, said there have been over 300 wounded people in the last 15 days including 215 civilians. "We have also received 33 dead bodies," he said, adding that some remain unidentified while other have been take by family members. The Taliban onslaught seems to have intensified with the start of the final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops in late April. As attacks intensify, Afghan security forces and government troops have retaliated with increasing air strikes, aided by the United States. This has raised growing concerns about civilian casualties across the country. The fighting has driven thousands of people from Kandahar and Helmand provinces in the south to seek refuge in Kandahar city, which is under siege by the Taliban. Government forces control only three of Kandahar province's 17 districts. Tamanna, a 36-year-old internally displaced person, had to leave her home with her four children after her husband was killed in an airstrike in the Panjwayee district of Kandahar province. She came to a makeshift camp in Kandahar city with her niece, whose husband was also killed in the airstrike 12 days ago. Having no place to take shelter, Tamanna is now worried about the future of her children. Another displaced woman who goes by one name, Nazia, was also terrified for her children and couldn't stop crying. "I lost everything, my home and everything. Now I fear losing my children from hunger," she says. She also lost her husband, who died after getting caught in a crossfire between Afghan forces and the Taliban. Sitting under the shade of a wall Nazia and her four children are waiting to get a tent, where they would be able to live. She has come all the way from Greshk district of Helmand province after the fighting intensified. The Afghan air force carried out more airstrikes against Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, as the insurgent force made additional gains in the country's north. A defense ministry statement said air strikes were carried out across the country, including in the southern Helmand province, where the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah is being fiercely contested. The Taliban control of nine of the city's 10 police districts. #Afghanistan #Taliban Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
