| Some of this is true, some of this is PR worthy of a Saigon press briefing... |
General John Nicholson, the commander of U.S forces in Afghanistan has said that the Taliban insurgents have failed to achieve their military targets in Afghanistan, referring to offensives on some strategic locations across the nation over the past six months.
He said that the Afghan and foreign forces in Afghanistan should take advantage of the upcoming winter season for regaining those areas under Taliban control.
Nicholson made the remarks during a visit to Ghazni province where he was accompanied by the Afghan Minister of Defense General Abdullah Habibi, Minister of Interior Taj Mohammad Jahed and head of the Afghan intelligence agency-National Directorate of Security (NDS) - Masoom Stanekzai.
"In those six months the Taliban have not accomplished any of their objectives, they tried to take Kunduz three times, they have tried to take Lashkargah twice, they tried to take Trinkot and Farah, they briefly took over Janikhail, but we quickly took it back," said Nicholson.
"We appreciate our security forces who firmly foiled the expansion of Taliban operations, they (Taliban) wanted to extend their infiltration in Paktia and Ghazni, but failed," said Defense Minister Abdullah Habibi.
Meanwhile, Ghazni police Aminullah Amarkhail said that at least half of the Taliban leadership is from Ghazni, and as such the group strives to worsen the security situation in the province.
"Taliban in the first step wanted to takeover Gero district, but Taliban failed to reach their objective," said Mohammad Sharif Yaftali, the commander of 302 Thunder Armyu Corps.
"Nearly half of the Taliban leadership belongs to Ghazni, therefore the group wants to damage security in Ghazni," siaid Aminullah Amarkhail, Ghazni police chief.
In addition, security officials have said that 620 insurgents were killed and more than 300 others were wounded during battles with security forces over the past few months which was a major blow to Taliban's military power.
Ghazni has eighteen districts. The security situation has been fragile in at least four districts in the province including Gero, Andar and Gelan districts. 
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