Afghan President Visits Ghazni Following Taliban Assault

Afghan security forces at a security checkpoint in Ghazni. (Image: PA).

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is visiting the embattled city of Ghazni, a week after the Taliban managed to infiltrate deep into the key provincial capital and capture several areas.

The insurgents hung on in Ghazni, south of the capital of Kabul, for nearly five days before US-backed Afghan forces flushed them out.

President Ghani arrived in the city by helicopter on Friday and is holding meetings with security officials and elders.

Police official Bilal Ahmad said security is tight, with Afghan helicopters patrolling overhead and a heavy security presence.

The five-day battles with the Taliban in Ghazni, the capital of Ghazni province, killed at least 100 members of Afghan security forces and 35 civilians before calm was restored on Tuesday.

The Taliban still hold power in much of the province.

Late on Monday night, the Taliban also overran a military base known as Camp Chinaya in northern Faryab province, killing 17 soldiers and wounding 19 others.

Lieutenant Colonel Martin O'Donnell whether NATO’s Resolute Support mission is working, and whether the Taliban is growing faster than is manageable by Afghan Security Forces.

A Defence Ministry spokesperson said insurgents overran the base after besieging it for three days.

Last April, 300 extra US Marines arrived in Helmand Province to bolster a small task force already there to mentor and train Afghan forces.

The most senior US general in Helmand said allied combat troops left Helmand Province "too soon" earlier this month and that the withdrawal left Afghan security forces with "more than they could handle".

Britain has already promised to increase its contribution, with a further 440 troops on their way to bolster force protection around Kabul.

Their arrival will see the largest British force on the ground in Afghanistan since the end of combat operations in 2014.