Outgunned in Urban Centers, Taliban Wage Fierce Fight in Remote Western Afghanistan by Sharif Hassan – Washington Post
… As the Taliban continue an aggressive campaign to control territory across Afghanistan — skipping their traditional winter fighting break while thousands of new U.S. forces arrive to train and strengthen the Afghan security forces — one of their more surprising and successful targets has been Farah province, a remote western region that shares a border with Iran.
The insurgents hold pieces of strategic border provinces such as Kunduz and Helmand but have failed to take permanent control of their capitals despite repeated attempts. Now they are turning to more far-flung, less well-defended provinces, including Farah and Badakhshan. An isolated farming region, Farah has less than 1 million inhabitants and is rarely visited by journalists.
The Taliban have been active in Farah for several years, but the current intense assault began two months ago. In January, they blocked highways to Farah City, seized large portions of neighboring Posht-e-Rod district and overran several security outposts, killing at least 43 policemen and wounding more than 50. Emboldened, they crossed the dried Farah Rud River, a natural barrier to the city, and attacked a suburban outpost…