The Siege of Sangin lasted between June 2006 and April 2007, during which time Taliban insurgents besieged the district centre of Sangin District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, occupied by British ISAF soldiers. During the siege, fighting became intensive, causing General David J. Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, to declare that Helmand province had seen the fiercest fighting involving British troops since the Korean War. It became...
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The Siege of Sangin lasted between June 2006 and April 2007, during which time Taliban insurgents besieged the district centre of Sangin District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, occupied by British ISAF soldiers. During the siege, fighting became intensive, causing General David J. Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, to declare that Helmand province had seen the fiercest fighting involving British troops since the Korean War. It became emblematic of the difficulty of the mission being carried out by British soldiers in Afghanistan, who nicknamed it "Sangingrad" (in reference to the battle of Stalingrad).
Sangin, a town of 30,000 inhabitants in Helmand province, is situated in a "green zone", a fertile agricultural area. It is well-known to be a centre for opium production and a hotbed of Taliban activity. The opposition to the Afghan government and to the presence of foreign troops came from a mix of Taliban, local tribesmen and drug traffickers, who were afraid that ISAF...
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