Local officials have reported five days worth heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, with at least 100 Taliban slain, along with 35 civilians and 21 Afghan troops.
The fighting, centered on the Sangin District, is over strategically important territory on the Pakistan border, and has displaced over 2,000 families to surrounding areas.
The fight is being put forward by Afghan officials as the first real test for the Afghan military in fighting on its own without direct US military support. So far the US has not sent warplanes.
The death toll is being disputed by the Taliban, as usual. They are insisting roughly the same number of civilians, but scores of dead Afghan troops and only 2 slain Taliban fighters.