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The Siege of Sangin was a British-led military operation that lasted between June 2006 and April 2007, during which time Taliban insurgents besieged the district centre of Sangin District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, occupied by British ISAF soldiers. During the siege, fighting became intensive, causing General David J. Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, to declare that Helmand province had seen the fiercest fighting involving British troops since the Korean War.〔 〕 It became emblematic of the difficulty of the mission being carried out by British soldiers in Afghanistan, who nicknamed it "Sangingrad" (in reference to the battle of Stalingrad). == Situation in Sangin == Sangin, a town of 30,000 inhabitants in Helmand province, is situated in a "green zone", a fertile agricultural area. It is well known for opium production〔 〕 and Taliban activity. The opposition to the Afghan government and to the presence of foreign troops came from a mix of Taliban, local tribesmen and drug traffickers, who were afraid that ISAF troops might destroy their opium poppy crops. Before the British deployment, the area was believed to be under complete Taliban control. Several incidents involving coalition troops had already occurred in that sector: on June 13, a U.S. convoy was ambushed north of Sangin, on the road to Musa Qala.〔 A Company, 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, were called into the town to protect the convoy, but they withdrew after only 24 hours presence. In late June, under pressure from President Hamid Karzai, the decision was taken to deploy British troops in Sangin to enforce the authority of the Afghan government. This represented an important change from the "inkspot" strategy that had been carried out previously around Lashkar Gah. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Siege of Sangin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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