Taliban launches offensive, kills 53

TALIBAN militants launched a major attack on the town of Mosa Qala in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on 17 May, killing 13 police officers and 40 Taliban in nine hours of fighting, Reuters reported. Helmand's deputy governor, Amir Mohammad Akhundzada, said it was the biggest attack in the Afghanistan province since the Taliban were driven from power in late 2001.

The attack focused on government offices and police stations in the town, 470 km from the capital Kabul and 40 km from the province's Sangin district - the scene of frequent clashes between Taliban and foreign and Afghan forces. Many shops in the town's market were also set on fire during the battle.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, claimed in a telephone conversation with the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency that as many as 30 police officers had been killed.