Afghan officials confirmed that the Taliban has gained control of Now Zad in Helmand Province, a district that U.S. and British troops battled to secure between 2007 and 2010.
Heavy fighting in the district occurred between the Taliban and Afghan security forces at the end of July, which the Taliban has documented in a video entitled "Liberation of Now Zad" posted to its official website.
The Long War Journal reported
In the video, the Taliban are shown attacking and overrunning a hilltop base and occupying several military and police outposts, including a large base, in Now Zad. The video matches initial reports from both the Taliban and Afghan officials that Afghan soldiers and police abandoned the district center and police and military bases after heavy fighting. Days after taking Now Zad, the Taliban claimed that it killed more than 40 soldiers and police and this appears to be confirmed in the video. The bodies of dozens of dead soldiers are seen in different locations throughout the district.
The Taliban has also seized Humvees--one of which was used in the attack on the hilltop base--given to Afghan security forces, in addition to trucks and other supplies.
Between 2007 and 2010, the Taliban engaged in significant fighting with British forces and U.S. Marines at Now Zad. In 2009, over 900 U.S. and British troops partnered with 150 Afghan soldiers in Operation Cobra’s Anger to rid the area of Taliban control.
The majority of the 378 Marines killed in the Afghanistan war perished in Helmand Province, and most of the 450 British troops lost also died there.
However, when American forces withdrew from the area in June 2014, the Taliban began a campaign to retake territory that it lost to the more than 30,000 U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan to retake Taliban-controlled areas between 2009 and 2012.
The Taliban has since gained control of districts in Kunduz, Sar-i-Pul, and Badakhshan during recent months, and now adds Now Zad to that list.
U.S. and Afghan officials say that approximately 330 Afghan troops and police are either killed or injured in Taliban attacks every week.