In this photograph taken on October 6, 2016, a wounded Afghan man (L) lies in his bed after receiving medical treatment at the Emergency hospital in Lashkar Gah, the capital city of Helmand province.
For years Helmand was the centerpiece of the Western military intervention in Afghanistan only for it to slip deeper into a quagmire of instability, with almost the entire southern province teetering on the verge of collapse. Intensified fighting has killed hundreds and forced thousands to flee to besieged capital Lashkar Gah, sparking a humanitarian crisis as the city — one of the last government-held enclaves — risks falling to the Taliban’s repeated ferocious assaults.
/ AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR / TO GO WITH AFP STORY AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-TALIBAN-US,FOCUS BY ANUJ CHOPRA
For years Helmand was the centerpiece of the Western military intervention in Afghanistan only for it to slip deeper into a quagmire of instability, with almost the entire southern province teetering on the verge of collapse. Intensified fighting has killed hundreds and forced thousands to flee to besieged capital Lashkar Gah, sparking a humanitarian crisis as the city — one of the last government-held enclaves — risks falling to the Taliban’s repeated ferocious assaults.
/ AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR / TO GO WITH AFP STORY AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-TALIBAN-US,FOCUS BY ANUJ CHOPRA