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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban uses human shields in Baghlan fighting |
| 2017-03-20 |
| Residents in the Baghlan-e-Markazi district of northern Baghlan province have said that the Taliban has destroyed their homes after taking control of their area. They said that the Taliban changed their homes into military strongholds to battle security forces. Meanwhile, security officials in Baghlan have also confirmed that the Taliban used civilian homes as shields in battles over the past month. “Taliban established their trenches inside the residential areas, you know that we had no option except to demolish Taliban barracks,” said Abbas, an ANA colonel in Baghlan. There are some reports however that one battle between the Taliban and security forces completely destroyed Mangalha village. According to the residents, the Taliban turned their homes into military barracks after forcing civilians to leave the area. “The people are very poor, we lost our houses and businesses, we want the government to help us so that we can rebuild our houses,” said another resident Jalil. “The war has demolished our houses, we are devastated, one month ago we left our houses,” said a resident of Mangalha village Abdul Fatah. The Taliban took over the village a month ago. They also surrounded an Afghan National Army (ANA) base. The Afghan security forces however managed to recapture the village. Up to 100 Taliban fighters were killed and wounded during the battles. |
| Posted by:badanov |