Afghanistan ‘a disaster from start to finish,’ says war veteran as Taliban advance in Helmand

Monday, December 21, 2015
By Paul Martin

RT.com
21 Dec, 2015

Taliban fighters have retaken vast areas of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, where hundreds of British soldiers were killed or injured at the height of the war. RT asked a veteran of the conflict whether the sacrifice was worth it.

“If Helmand falls it will be a huge blow to us all, to all the men and women that fought there and to the friends and family of those who died,” former Royal Marine Ben Wright told RT.

Wright, who served in Afghanistan, had his vehicle blown up by a roadside bomb. His fears appear well-founded.

The last six months have seen key areas of Helmand, in the south of the country, return to the grip of a resurgent Taliban.

Places which became household names during the height of the British occupation have again become the scenes of fierce battles between government forces and insurgents.

The iconic Kajaki dam, the area around the town of Lashkar Gah and now Sangin, which was once seen as the most dangerous place for British soldiers to operate and where Wright briefly served, all appear to be within the Islamist group’s grasp.

In the north, the strategic city of Kunduz was controlled by the Taliban for several days in September before its militants were driven back.

“The cost of this conflict has been monumental,” Wright said. “Not only for the men and women with life changing injuries, but for the thousands that are suffering the turmoil of living with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).”

The Rest…HERE

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