Fighting intensified in the city of Lashkar Gah, capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, as government forces sought to prevent the city from falling into the hands of the Taliban, while America and Britain accused the movement of committing a massacre against civilians in Kandahar.

For its part, the United Nations called to spare civilians the conflict between the government and the Taliban.

The French Press Agency reported that the fighting intensified yesterday in Lashkar Gah after the Taliban launched attacks on the city center and the prison building, hours after the government announced the deployment of hundreds of special forces inside the city.

And the German news agency quoted local officials and residents in the capital, Helmand, as saying that government forces control only two areas of the city, in which the main government facilities such as the court complex and the police headquarters are located.

The Voice of Sharia radio broadcast from the radio and television building in the city of Lashkargah, the center of Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan.

pic.twitter.com/GwgDKxd5Gq

— Islamic Emirate (@alemara_ar) August 2, 2021

Yesterday, local media said that the Taliban had taken control of the radio and television building in the city of Lashkar Gah.

The Ministry of Defense stated in a tweet today that 20 Taliban militants were killed and 12 wounded in a night air raid of the government forces on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah city.

American support

Residents of Lashkar Gah - which is home to 200,000 people - said that an American B-52 bomber aircraft rushed to support the government forces, and a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry said that the American air attacks targeted Taliban positions in Lashkar Gah.

375 #Taliban terrorists were killed and 193 were wounded as a result of #ANDSF operations in Nuristan, Logar, Kandahar, Uruzgan, Herat, Jowzjan, Balkh, Samangan, Helmand, Kapisa & Baghlan & provinces during the last 24 hours.

Also, 11 IEDs were discovered & defused by #ANA.

pic.twitter.com/3HVLLLEBRo

— Ministry of Defense, Afghanistan (@MoDAfghanistan) August 3, 2021

A member of the Helmand Provincial Council, Abdul Majeed Khondzadeh, told the German news agency that the clashes and air attacks are causing casualties and suffering, explaining that the entire Lashkar Gah is closed, and only the laboratories continue to work.

If the Taliban takes control of Lashkar Gah, it will be the first provincial capital to fall into the hands of its fighters since 2016. Helmand is the largest of the Afghan provinces in area, and it is adjacent to the border with Pakistan.

On the other hand, Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense as saying that the government forces managed to regain control of the headquarters of the Najrab district in the state of Kapisa, north of the capital, Kabul, while the movement did not comment on this news.

Taliban accusation

On the other hand, the US and British embassies in Afghanistan today accused the Taliban of committing a massacre against civilians in the southern province of Kandahar, which the movement denied.

The two embassies said in a joint statement that the Taliban committed a crime against humanity in the Sabine district of Kandahar, without further details.

The statement demanded the opening of a comprehensive investigation into the incident, stressing the need to stop the ongoing war in Afghanistan. The two embassies addressed the Taliban by saying, "If you cannot control your fighters now, you will not be able to do anything when you reach power."

(2/2) The Taliban's leadership must be held responsible for the crimes of their fighters.

If you cannot control your fighters now, you have no business in governance later.

Read more here: https://t.co/jKiovuozJK

— US Embassy Kabul (@USEmbassyKabul) August 2, 2021

The Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan said earlier that the Taliban killed 40 civilians and looted their money in the Sabine district, which it seized on July 14.

A member of the Taliban's negotiating team, Suhail Shaheen, told Reuters that the accusations by the US and British embassies were baseless.

Taliban fighters took control of the strategic Spin Boldak district, an important commercial crossing on the border with Pakistan, and fierce fighting has taken place ever since, as Afghan government forces try to retake the area.

United nations

In a related context, the United Nations today urged the warring parties in Afghanistan to do more to protect civilians, warning that unless the parties do so, the consequences will be "catastrophic." for civilians.

On the other hand, T.S.

Tirumurti, the Ambassador of India - which chaired the UN Security Council this month - to hold an urgent meeting on Afghanistan, and added at a press conference in New York that the situation in Afghanistan has become a source of concern for all members of the Security Council.

Afghanistan has been suffering a war since 2001, when an international military coalition led by Washington overthrew the Taliban regime, because it was linked at the time to al-Qaeda, which adopted the September 11 attacks of the same year in the United States.

The level of violence in Afghanistan has escalated since the beginning of last May, with the start of the last phase of the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.