KABUL, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani paid a visit to the militancy-plagued Helmand province on Thursday to assess the security situation there, said a provincial official.
The official, who declined to be named, said that the president's plane landed at Shorab airbase at around 9:00 a.m. local time (0430 GMT).
According to the official, the president would meet the families of the victims who were killed in an airstrike in Gershk district last week.
More than a dozen local police personnel were killed in air raids allegedly conducted by the U.S.-led coalition strikes during a U.S.-supported Afghan forces operation last week in Gereshk district, where Taliban militants have been fighting to gain ground.
Notorious for growing poppy and militancy, Helmand province has been regarded as the hotbed of Taliban in Afghanistan and the restive province has been the scene of heavy fighting over the past few years.
