'Corrupt' Afghan Army Leaders Hinder Fight in Helmand Province

The Taliban has taken over "some" districts in Afghanistan's flashpoint Helmand province as Afghanistan National Army (ANA) units struggle against their own corrupt leadership and desertions in the ranks, a U.S. military spokesman in Kabul said Tuesday.

The fight in Helmand, center of the poppy and heroin trade and a main source of funding for the Taliban, has resulted in the loss of several areas to the enemy but Army Brig. Gen. Wilson A. Shoffner repeatedly declined to name them.

When asked several times where the lost districts were, Shoffner said it was "hard to specify exactly how many at any given time. But there are some that -- where the Taliban have control."