Afghan Taliban signal growing strength with capture of southern district

Afghan policemen inspect vehicles at a checkpoint in Helmand province, Afghanistan, February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Abdul Malik

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban fighters have captured the strategic district of Sangin in the southern Afghan province of Helmand after security forces pulled out, leaving the district centre to the insurgents, officials said on Thursday.

Helmand, which accounts for the bulk of Afghanistan's billion dollar opium crop, is already largely in the hands of the Taliban but the capture of Sangin underlines their growing strength in the south.