Afghan army tells civilians to flee as Taliban move in on Helmand capital of Lashkar Gar

The Afghan army has urged civilians to flee the besieged capital of Helmand province as it battled to prevent the Taliban taking over a city that once served as the British army’s headquarters.

General Sami Sadat, the commander of forces in Helmand, urged the 200,000 residents of Lashkar Gah to leave immediately. The United Nations said dozens had been killed by “indiscriminate” gunfire and airstrikes, with civilians suffering the most.

“Please leave as soon as possible so we can start our operation,” the general said in a message to residents. “I know it is very difficult for you to leave your houses — it is hard for us too — but if you are displaced for a few days, please forgive us. We are fighting the Taliban wherever they are. We will fight them and we will not leave a single one alive.”

Sadat released his evacuation message to the media — but it was unclear if it would reach Lashkar Gah’s residents. More than a dozen local radio and television stations have already been seized by the militants, leaving only the pro-Taliban Voice of Shariah broadcasting.

Residents described chaos and fear inside the city with the sound of heavy fighting and airstrikes all around. Tahir Agha, 34, said houses were surrounded by the Taliban and there were few Afghan forces to face them. “All the fighting is being led by the police, the government is lying, there have been no reinforcements deployed,” he said.

A doctor who was trapped at an emergency hospital on the front line said the situation was rapidly worsening as fuel, food and medicine all ran short. “We can only take the most severely wounded now, those who have been shot or injured in airstrikes,” he said. “Most of them are women and children.”

Taliban fighters attempted a suicide attack on the city’s prison to free jailed militants but were repelled, before resuming the battle around the governor’s office and national security buildings.

Lashkar Gah was the nerve centre for British operations in Helmand province and has not been held by the Taliban since they were chased from power in 2001.

It is one of three provincial capitals in Afghanistan currently under heavy assault almost a month after American forces pulled out, forcing a Nato withdrawal. There is also fierce fighting going on in Kandahar and Herat.

President Ghani of Afghanistan blamed the Taliban’s lightning offensive on the precipitous withdrawal of foreign troops, warning Washington there would be “consequences”.

The British and American embassies in Kabul issued a statement last night accusing the Taliban of war crimes in the border town of Spin Boldak, which they seized earlier this month.

Videos have emerged appearing to show gruesome revenge killings and the mutilation of civilians there. One victim was Danish Siddiqui, a Pulitzer prize-winning Indian photographer.

There have been claims of brutality on multiple sides — an echo of the mujahidin wars that followed the Russian withdrawal in 1989.

Lynne O’Donnell, an author and journalist reporting from Herat, told Times Radio that she had seen two suspected Taliban militants beaten to death by men led by Ismail Khan, an Afghan warlord. Khan had marshalled a militia to help defend Herat, the gateway to Iran, as Afghan security forces crumbled.

Washington announced yesterday it was widening a scheme that gives sanctuary to Afghans under threat from the Taliban, in addition to a special visa programme for personnel who worked for the US military. But under the new rules, Afghans would have to reach a third country before lodging a claim for resettlement in the US.