Kandahar: Afghan officials say hundreds of members of the security forces have been killed recently fighting insurgent attacks on the main city in the southern province of Helmand.
Abdul Majeed Akhonzada, deputy head of the provincial council, and lawmaker Sheer Muhammad Akhon put the number of soldiers and police killed in the past 10 days in and around Lashkar Gah at more than 200.
Separately they said 45 civilians have also been killed. Akhon says 100 security forces personnel have also been wounded.
Akhonzada and Akhon both say it is the worst situation the province has faced in the 15 years since the Taliban's regime ended with the 2001 US invasion.
Taliban have taken control of most of Helmand, source of most of the world's heroin, in the past year.
