Mohammadi Bashi had been promised that a helicopter was on the way to evacuate all 32 surviving members of his family; as relatives of General Bashi, they were especially at risk if the Taliban captured the whole district.

As the soldiers’ bodies arrived two and three at a time, officials with the presidential delegation warned that they should be kept out of sight so as not to create panic.

The head of the delegation, the presidential adviser Asadullah Falah, left the meetings to grant an interview, in which he sought to play down the crisis. “We have some casualties, but we’re still not definite about how many,” he said.

Told that the bodies of 20 commandos were plainly visible just outside the window of that room, he said that many must have been police officers and militiamen. They were all in uniforms with commando shoulder patches.

Mr. Falah answered a phone call about the helicopters; four were on their way, so his 15-member delegation could also leave, he was told. “Tell one of them to land in the governor’s compound, so people don’t see the bodies,” he told the caller, within earshot of a Times reporter. “It will weaken morale here.”

But by the time it grew dark, the helicopters had not arrived. The Taliban mostly fight at night, and were expected to renew their offensive, especially in Hotqol, where the commandos were killed on Sunday.

Escape from Jaghori

Commander Hussein squeezed into a car with a half-dozen other fighters and left. “If Hotqol falls, the whole of Jaghori will fall,” he said.