LASHKARGAH, July 18 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The defence ministry says government forces have re-taken control of the Nawa district from the Taliban after a heavy fighting for several hours on Tuesday.

Defence ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi said forces of the Afghan National Army (ANA) started operation to recapture the district midday Tuesday and managed to get drive out Taliban fighters at around 5:00 pm.

He told Pajhwok Afghan News they expected Garmsir, the second district which had fallen to the Taliban, would also be recuperated soon as fierce battle between the ANA forces and the fighters is going on.  In both the operations, US-led coalition forces are providing strong air support with bombing the fighters to the Afghan forces on ground, Azimi said.

Earlier, the interior ministry blamed fighters of Pakistan's banned Lashkar-i-Tayyeba group and Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam party along with the Taliban fighters for directly attacking and capturing Garmsir district which is still in the hands of the Taliban.  The interior ministry in its statement and spokesman Yousuf Stanizai vowed to defeat the enemy and force out the 'terrorists' back to their places.

Presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi also admitted at a press conference Tuesday that Garmsir district fell to the Taliban due to weakness of the government forces. Garmsir was captured by the Taliban on Sunday while Nawa district collapsed to them on Monday.

Meanwhile, spokesman of the coalition forces Colonel Tom Collins announced that they were launching soon a powerful operation against the Taliban in Helmand province.

Around 10,000 troops of the coalition are already busy on the ever biggest hunt - Operation Mountain Thrust - in the area. The spokesman told journalists here the coalition forces would go into the areas under the Taliban control to confront them.

Despite the heavy operation, the largest in its type since the Taliban were ousted in late 2001, the fighters have re-emerged in the region and seized twin districts one after another in Helmand where about 4,000 British troops are positioned to curb the insurgency.

This is the first time fighters loyal to the former Taliban ruling are capturing land and government headquarters despite heavy presence of the NATO and US forces in the region. Helmand has been the scene of the fiercest battles in recent weeks as the British troops were deployed there in late May. An unprecedented upsurge in attacks by the Taliban has mounted worries of re-emergence of the Islamist insurgents in the south.

Borhan Younus

by/rh