Afghanistan's Helmand province could fall to the Taliban after months of heavy fighting, with 90 members of the security forces killed over the past two days, the deputy governor of the volatile southern province warned on Sunday.
Mohammad Jan Rasulyar said unless President Ashraf Ghani took urgent action, the province, a centre of opium production and a Taliban heartland that British and American troops struggled to control for years, would be lost.
"Your Excellency, Helmand is standing on the brink and there is a serious need for you to come," he wrote on Facebook.
The highly unusual public plea from a serving official painted a picture strikingly similar to the situation that led up to the fall of the northern city of Kunduz in late September, when Taliban fighters seized and held on to for several days before government troops regained control.
Update #1: Afghan Official Uses Social Media to Ask President for Help -- AP
Update #2: Afghan official makes plea to president via Facebook (BBC)
WNU Editor: The takeover of the Afghan city Kunduz by the Taliban for a few days two months ago was a disaster for the Afghan government and the military. The fall of Helmand province would be many magnitudes worst than that.
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