(MENAFN) An elite new Taliban force is proving its strength in the strategic southern province of Helmand, pointing to the insurgents' ability to refine their battlefield techniques to match Afghanistan's increasingly professional national army.
The Taliban regard Helmand as their heartland. They share Pashtu ethnicity with its residents and the province's vast opium output has helped fund their war against the government in Kabul, now in its fifteenth year.
In recent weeks, the Taliban have taken huge swathes of the province and now they appear to be closing in on the capital, Lashkar Gah.
Afghan officials in Helmand say the army is facing an insurgent fighting force that is better-organized and more skilled than ever, and that the Taliban have been sending men into the fight who appear to be members of a commando-like unit.
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