...Arabic for students...
has conducted roughly 700 attacks on the city of Lashkargah in the southern province of Helmand
...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan...
over the last three weeks, an army commander said, adding that the group was "helped by al-Qaeda gunnies" in their attacks on the southern city.
The 215 Maiwand Corps Commander, Gen. Sami Sadat, said that nearly '30 al-Qaeda gunnies' were killed in Afghan force operations that were conducted in response to the Taliban attacks and that the military has gathered evidence of their identities along with other documents.
The attacks were mostly focused on Lashkargah City’s District 10 and District 3 — on the outskirts of the city — and parts of these two areas temporarily fell to the Taliban.
"Al-Qaeda gunnies have fought against our troops on the frontlines. At least 30 of them have been killed in the festivities in the last three weeks," Gen. Sadat said.
Helmand officials said that at least 4,500 families were displaced during the festivities and sought shelter in other parts of Lashkargah.
"We have pushed the enemies back from the city and we are pursuing them to take more (territory) back," said Hedayat Rasuli, a battalion commander for the border forces.
"The enemy is beyond those walls. They are seen there sometimes," said Ebadullah, a police soldier.