Sangin is a town in Helmand province of Afghanistan, with population of approximately 14,000 people. It is located in the valley of the Helmand River at north-east of Lashkar Gah.  Sangin is notorious as one of the central locations of the opium trade in the south of the country.

At least two raids have been carried out in the Sangin district, where intense fighting has been raging for a week between Afghan troops and the Taliban.

The latter reportedly took control of the town in the Helmand province earlier this week after hardline insurgents said their fighters had seized the local government building and police station and that their flag was flying.

While according to reports reinforcements had arrived in the area, most residents of Sangin fled to the Helmand provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, when the fighting escalated.

Sangin is a prize for the Taliban as it sits on routes for drug, arms and other contraband that fund the insurgency, Daily Mail reports.

Helmand, a longstanding Taliban stronghold and the source of most of the opium that helps fund the terror group , has always been difficult to control.