Taliban Storm Into Southern Afghan City

The Taliban stormed into Tarin Kot, triggering heavy fighting around government buildings as panicked residents scrambled to flee the capital of southern Uruzgan province. According to officials, hundreds of militants battled to overrun the local prison, police headquarters and the governor’s compound after breaching the city, but hour’s later afghan forces bolstered by reinforcements and air support repelled them from Tarin Kot. The attack highlights the once rural insurgency’s aggressive push to capture big cities, from Kunduz in the north to Lashkar Gah in the south, leaving afghan forces fighting without full NATO support thinly stretched across multiple fronts. The Taliban onslaught in Tarin Kot prompted senior officials to retreat to the airport, home to a military base on the outer fringes of the city, which has been besieged by the Taliban for months.