Afghan forces battle Taliban for control of district

KABUL: Hundreds of Taliban and Afghan government forces were locked in deadly fighting for control of a northeastern district that is home to 35,000 people, an official said Wednesday.

The militants captured western parts of Do Ab district in troubled Nuristan province, which borders Pakistan, and threatened to overrun the entire district where fighting is continuing, Nuristan governor Jamaludin Badr said.

NATO troops have stepped in to provide support and assistance to police and a counterattack is under way to recapture the territory, he added.

"Hundreds of Taliban fighters have stepped up their attacks on Do Ab district in the past 48 hours and have captured western parts of the district," Badr told AFP.

"Fighting is still continuing in eastern parts of the district, but police forces cannot hold on for long there because they are outnumbered and running out of munitions."

Badr said eight insurgents and three policemen had been killed in the past 24 hours.

He also said that despite repeated appeals for help from the interior ministry in Kabul, they had received no reinforcements and warned that the militants could overrun the entire district.

Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary was not immediately contactable.

But a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, Brigadier General Josef Blotz, confirmed that it was providing assistance in the area.

"Requests for assistance have been made and ISAF is assisting and supporting Afghan National Police in Nuristan," he said.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed that the militants were in control of the entire district after killing 10 police. The group is known frequently to exaggerate its claims.

Nuristan is a highly volatile area of eastern Afghanistan, which along with the south is the region worst hit by the near ten-year long Taliban insurgency.