Reuters: Afghan forces battle to push back Taliban from southern city
Afghan government forces, bolstered by hundreds of fresh troops and elite commandos, battled on Wednesday to push the Taliban back from around the capital of the southern province of Helmand after fierce fighting a day before.
The fighting near the provincial centre of Lashkar Gah, part of a widening insurgency across the country, comes three weeks after the Taliban briefly captured the northern city of Kunduz in their biggest military success of the 14-year conflict.
Shah Mahmoud, a senior police official in Helmand, said troops backed by air support had pushed fighters from the hardline Islamist Taliban movement back by some 8 km (5 miles) from Lashkar Gah and regained a district which had been overrun.
Afghanistan War News Updates -- October 21, 2015
Afghan Official: Troops Push Taliban Back From Southern City -- AP
Civilians flee as clashes erupt in southern Afghan city -- AFP
Afghan Forces Battle Taliban In North, South -- RFE
Taliban seize British stronghold in Helmand as security unravels -- The Telegraph
Taliban capture former British stronghold in Afghanistan -- RT
Taliban Takes Over UK Stronghold in Afghanistan -- Sputnik
Taliban seizes another district in western Afghanistan -- Threat Matrix
20 Taliban militants killed in Afghanistan operations: Official -- Press TV
Taliban Kill at Least 22 Afghan Police Officers -- NYT
Afghanistan looks to former warlord to drive out Taliban -- AP
Gen. Dostum returns to north amid deteriorating security situation -- Khaama Press
Taliban sets its sights on Afghan press freedom -- France 24
ISIS Shows Off Its First Graduating Class Of Soldiers In Afghanistan -- Vocativ
Ghani thanks Obama and Allies for ‘Historic Decision’ to support Afghanistan -- Khaama Press
U.S. GOP Leader Would Double Planned Troop Level In Afghanistan -- RFE
The Taliban Is Fighting for Control of an Opium-Rich Provincial Capital in Afghanistan -- VICE News/Reuters
UN: Opium Grown in Afghanistan Down by 48% -- VOA
The Taliban Is Capturing Afghanistan's $1 Trillion in Mining Wealth -- Bloomberg
Why U.S. Engagement In Afghanistan Has Had Mixed Results (Audio) -- NPR
Obama's Last Stand on Afghanistan: A Strategy With No Foresight -- Zaman Stanizai, Huffington Post