Taliban Overrun Afghan District

The Washington Post reports:

KABUL — Taliban fighters overpowered poorly armed policemen in a district in eastern Afghanistan early Tuesday in a rare show of force that prompted local officials to flee.

Taliban militants, who had been encroaching on the Waygal district for weeks, launched a coordinated assault on the local government building and police station shortly after midnight, Gen. Shamsur Rahman, the police chief of Nuristan province, said in an interview.

“We did not have enough police or weapons to fight back,” he said.

The attack underscored the challenges the Afghan government and NATO troops face as they attempt to start shifting responsibility for security to Afghan forces this summer. It follows Taliban assertions of responsibility in recent days for a suicide bombing that killed at least 24 people and a mass kidnapping of 50 men, both also in eastern provinces.

The Taliban overran a small U.S. outpost in the Waygal district in the summer of 2008. The attack killed nine American soldiers and led to debate about whether restoring government control in such remote areas was worth the risk to foreign troops.

Rahman said the insurgents looted the government buildings on Tuesday and are now in control of the district.

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