Fighting rages in Afghanistan as US, UK accuse Taliban of massacring civilians in border district

Taliban fighters assaulted at least three provincial capitals overnight — Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat — after a weekend of heavy fighting that saw thousands of civilians flee the advancing militants. Fighting raged in Helmand’s provincial capital Lashkar Gah, where the Taliban launched coordinated attacks on the city centre and its prison — just hours after the government announced the deployment of hundreds of commandos to the area. Read more…