Kabul: The US launched air strikes Thursday to bolster Afghan forces scrambling to beat back Taliban insurgents who seized large swathes of a key opium-rich district, following the first British deployment to the volatile region in 14 months.
The Islamists claim to have captured nearly the entire district of Sangin after storming its frontlines on Sunday, tightening their grip on the southern Helmand province.
Fleeing residents reported Taliban executions of captured soldiers as the insurgents advanced on the district centre, compounding fears that the entire province was on the brink of falling into insurgent hands.
The US army conducted air strikes on Wednesday to support Afghan forces mobilising reinforcements to relieve dozens of security forces holed up in the district centre.
"US forces conducted two strikes in Sangin," a NATO spokesman said in a brief statement.
