Afghan Forces Retake Town From Taliban

Real Test Will Be For Coalition To Keep Control Of Key Helmand Town This Time

(CBS/AP)  Hundreds of Taliban fighters retreated in trucks and motorbikes Monday from a southern Afghan town they overran last February - the only important territory the militants controlled - as Afghan and international troops closed in on the town's center.

Visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the victory in Musa Qala will have positive long-term results for the Afghan campaign. It also gives NATO a symbolic triumph in the deadliest year of fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 and boosts hopes the Afghan government can expand into a poppy rich area where it now wields little influence.

But Musa Qala has bounced back and forth between government and Taliban control, falling into militant hands in February despite the presence of British troops nearby, and the question remained whether overstretched Afghan and NATO troops can hold the town in the long-term.

Some 7,000 British troops have faced fierce battles throughout northern Helmand this year - in Kajaki, Sangin, Gereshk and Musa Qala - the world's largest opium poppy growing region, from which the Taliban derive tens of millions of dollars.

CBS News' Fazul Rahim, reporting from Kabul, said winning back Musa Qala was a highly symbolic blow to the country's Islamic militants. "It was the only big town where the Taliban had put in place their own way of government and courts," said Rahim, adding that the extremists had even set up their own radio station in the town, broadcasting Taliban leadership messages and Jihadi songs.

President Hamid Karzai said the decision to enter Musa Qala followed reports of brutality there by the Taliban, al Qaeda and foreign fighters. But Karzai also said local Taliban commanders had committed to switch their allegiance to the Afghan government.

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said Afghan, British and U.S. forces had "completely captured" Musa Qala, a town in the opium poppy growing belt of northern Helmand province, and a Taliban spokesman said its forces had retreated.

Azimi told Rahim that "several dozen" militants had been killed fighting for the town, including some "foreigners", an likely reference to Taliban from across the border in Pakistan, or al Qaeda militants from other countries. Azimi said a more exact death toll would only be possible once the town had been secured.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force said ISAF and Afghan troops had entered the outskirts of the main part of Musa Qala but would now proceed cautiously into the town center because of improvised explosive devices.

An Afghan army commander, Brig. Gen. Gul Agha Naebi, said Musa Qala was surrounded and that troops were 500 yards from the town center.

"The bombing continues. The area is big. (Tuesday) we will carefully clear the streets from the mines," he said. "Both sides are still exchanging fire. There is still resistance from the Taliban. I think these are foreign fighters, al Qaeda members that we are facing. They are trying to create ways for retreat."

A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said militant fighters left Musa Qala as a strategic decision to avoid Taliban and civilian casualties.

A resident of Musa Qala, Haji Mohammad Rauf, said he saw Taliban fighters leave the town in trucks and motorbikes around noon. Two hours later, hundreds of Afghan soldiers streamed into town and established security checkpoints, he said.

"I was standing on my roof and saw hundreds of Afghan soldiers drive into town," Rauf said. "All the shops are closed and families are staying inside their homes."

Speaking at a news conference in the capital alongside Brown, Karzai recalled a story of a 15 year-old boy accused of spying that Taliban militants hanged from a ceiling. The militants lit two gas cylinders on fire underneath him, roasting the teenager to death. The next morning the militants told the boy's mother she could pick up her son.

"When she entered the room she found the charcoaled dead body of her son," Karzai said. "Some of the Afghan Taliban who also witnessed atrocities like that, they came and they met with me and they asked me to intervene and (said) that they will switch sides and that is what's happened," Karzai said

Taliban militants overran Musa Qala in February, four months after British troops left the town following a contentious peace agreement that gave security responsibilities to Afghan elders. That deal was criticized by U.S. officials behind the scenes as surrendering to the Taliban.

NATO commanders had long said they would take back Musa Qala at a time of the Afghan government's choosing, but NATO and Afghan forces will now have to work to hold the town in a region - Helmand province - that has seen the fiercest fighting in Afghanistan this year.

Lt. Col. Richard Eaton, a British military spokesman, said the military wasn't going to take Musa Qala without a plant to hold it. He said a unit of predominantly Afghan soldiers would be stationed in town.

Brown, seen at left visiting British troops in Helmand province, said he had "no doubt" the Musa Qala operation would be successful and that social and economic progress would follow military action.

"In Musa Qala the action has been taken, and I think we will see in the next few days in Musa Qala that the action will be effective, that it will work and it will bring long-term and lasting results," Brown said.

During a stop at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, Brown thanked about 150 British troops for their "patriotic service."

"It is one of the most difficult of tasks. It is the most testing of times and it is one of the most important of missions because to win here and to defeat the Taliban and make sure we can give strength to the new democracy of Afghanistan is important to defeating terrorism all around the world," he said.

Brown's visit to Iraq on Sunday signaled the start of what Britain hopes will be the transition from a military mission there to one aimed at aiding Iraq's economy and providing jobs. His speech was met with enthusiastic applause and cheers by British troops stationed there.

His speech in southern Afghanistan, by contrast, was more subdued, as was the resulting applause, perhaps reflecting the serious fight that British soldiers find themselves in.

"We have an operation ongoing in Musa Qala, we've just had people die, so it's a different tempo," said Lt. Andy McLachlan, from Exeter in southwest England.

At least 40 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this year and 86 have died in the country since 2001.

This year has been the deadliest since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. More than 6,200 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, according to an AP tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.

Elsewhere, an Afghan army helicopter crashed in central Afghanistan Monday because of bad weather, killing four people, the Defense Ministry said. The Mi-17 helicopter went down in Salar district of Wardak province.

In neighboring Sangin district, Afghan police clashed Monday with a group of Taliban militants, killing 15 militants, said district police chief Mohammad Ali.

[samsel3]

Nothing has changed on Afghanistan & Iran. The administrations interest in Iran & nukes is a smoke screen for their real agenda. Their true interests are Cheney''s energy policy.Condi Rice is a former board member of Chevron Oil and mouthpiece for the administrations energy policy. Part of that policy is the The Caspian Sea pipeline which will go through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,Pakistan,India & Nepal.It will be cheaper to construct if they can go through Iran, but regime change is necessary first. The Caspian sea area holds one third of the world''s oil and south asian oil markets are their target market. This pipeline was also the reason for the Afghanistan invasion. Cheney''s energy policy is the root of all these middle east wars, a federal court judge sealed all documents associated with it for the administration, and the national media are not allowed to discuss or comment on it. More troops are needed in Afghanistan to protect the contractors building the pipeline. Iran stands in the way of total control of global oil with direct sales of oil to china and is now in the crosshairs. China said there would be dire consequences if the US interfered with there direct oil contracts with Iran. Both parties in the Congress should be very concerned with China''s growing war machine and need for oil. They are the real threat & the administration doesn''t care they are in control!!! All that matters to them is BIG OIL and their corporate stock portfolios

[beehive21-2009]

They took the dope and split,it must be harvest time ,so look for lots of poppy related products coming your childrens way to kill or addict them

[beehive21-2009]

Please, burn the poppy fields before the harvest,next year.

[b-easy63]

Then the US will lose Anbar province and retake it, and Fallujah and retake it, and Diyala or wherever else and retake it--and more people will be killed and more corners will be turned and more surges will be needed and more money and lives will be lost and more puppets and lying politicians will get rich. yeah, yeah we know--been watching this really, really lousy movie for 7 years now. And everytime we flip the channel--the same bad movie is playing on every station--now matter what color their tie or scarf or pin is.

[averjane]

samsel3

If China is in control already then maybe it''s time to get involved. I don''t trust them anymore with all the contaminations coming out of their country; toys, etc. If this pipeline being built could have a shared benefit to all the countries it will run through then that would help people have a common goal and have peace. The only thing I would not want to see happen is people of our nation trying to impose our lifestyle on them. Let people keep their traditions. Stop trying to bring out filth into their countries. They already have enough of their own problems I''m sure.

[sevenveils]

The citizens of Musa Qala don''t just feelfree, they are free. Free from Taliban extremism, terrorism and muderisms. No more Taliban hanging boys for dressing in western clothing.

A proud example of Afghanis taking their country back from foreigners.

[sevenveils]

Nancy_Naive - HA HA Your chicken team couldn''t take the heat and left the city. The ragtag bunch of murderers controlled the city with fear and terrorism. They were not wanted.

The Afghan government showed they had the resources and will to eradicate the wild taliban pigs and send them into the woods where they belong.
Pig hunting season is looking good!

[one_american]

Liberals like the taliban, because the taliban supply illegal drugs to liberals.

[feelfree1]

Re: "A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said militant fighters left Musa Qala as a strategic decision to avoid Taliban and civilian casualties."

Not much of a victory, considering that the Taliban simply initiated a planned retreat. At least the Taliban seems to be concerned about avoiding civilian casualties; something that U.S.-led forces cannot credibly claim.

Re: "This year has been the deadliest since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001."

Deadliest year in Afghanistan, and the dealiest year in Iraq, yet the usual dupes still try to claim that we are winning something.

What a farce.

[ivandrago]

Now that they''ve taken the area again, they should just start buying the poppy crops. We can outbid the Taliban easily, and the villagers would have a reason to turn in Taliban militants. As many of you know the poppy can be used for more than just heroin. Legal medicine is made from it too. Whatever is left can be burned "after" purchasing it. You have to think outside the box.

[zootallures2]

Why don''t you bomb the poppy fields instead of innicent civilians? Because you''re a creep, you''re a weirdo.... what the hell are you doing here? You don''t belong here....

[DDouville]

Some unpatriotic comments here, look what your country has given you. What have you given your country? Instead of compounding the problem why not do something positive to help solve it, like become a congressman or a senator show us all how you could solve this dilema with your political genius and rigorous honesty. It''s a dangerous world my friend, and a lot of good men have died to ensure you don''t have to see the ugly side of it. Hundreds of thousands have died protecting our freedom. Thank your country for that. Amen.

[samsel3]

US troops are not allowed to touch the poppy fields. They are allowed to pass through them, but thats it. Top brass will not interfere with poppy production. As for the Taliban, they were wined & dined in Texas by members of BIG OIL prior to the Afghan invasion. They agreed to let the Caspian Sea pipeline be built through their territory,but changed their minds once back in Afghanistan. The result, they were bombed for regime change. Nothing stops BIG OIL, the power is in Cheney''s office.

[samsel3]

Nothing has changed on Afghanistan & Iran. The administrations interest in Iran & nukes is a smoke screen for their real agenda. Their true interests are Cheney''s energy policy.Condi Rice is a former board member of Chevron Oil and mouthpiece for the administrations energy policy. Part of that policy is the The Caspian Sea pipeline which will go through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,Pakistan,India & Nepal.It will be cheaper to construct if they can go through Iran, but regime change is necessary first. The Caspian sea area holds one third of the world''s oil and south asian oil markets are their target market. This pipeline was also the reason for the Afghanistan invasion. Cheney''s energy policy is the root of all these middle east wars, a federal court judge sealed all documents associated with it for the administration, and the national media are not allowed to discuss or comment on it. More troops are needed in Afghanistan to protect the contractors building the pipeline. Iran stands in the way of total control of global oil with direct sales of oil to China and is now in the crosshairs. China said there would be dire consequences if the US interfered with there direct oil contracts with Iran. Both parties in the Congress should be very concerned with China''s growing war machine and need for oil. They are the real threat & the administration doesn''t care they are in control!!! All that matters to them is BIG OIL and their corporate stock portfolios

[Con Mohrat]

Then the US will lose Anbar province and retake it, and Fallujah and retake it, and Diyala or wherever else and retake it--and more people will be killed and more corners will be turned and more surges will be needed and more money and lives will be lost and more puppets and lying politicians will get rich. yeah, yeah we know--been watching this really, really lousy movie for 7 years now. And everytime we flip the channel--the same bad movie is playing on every station--now matter what color their tie or scarf or pin is.
Posted by b-easy63
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They won a battle--but ask the troops if they want to live there permanently to maintain the "victory."

Unlike the wider wars, WWI and WW2, which ended in victory and defeat, the whole world is finding out that the "World''s Only Superpower" is just a paper tiger with a broken Army of One, only capable of bombing civilian housing from air strikes and running away, without any hint of it ending in a victory.
President Reagan was smart. After 246 Marines were killed in Lebanon, he retreated.
President Nixon was the same. Sound retreat and pull everyone out of Viet Nam.
Bush, the writing is, and has been on the wall. Can you read?

[Con Mohrat]

Forgot one place where Bush did the Bonaparte''s Retreat. It was in Saudi Arabia.
I used to visit the Dhahran Air Base, home of the 2nd Air Division, where military aircraft from our East coast bases and West coast bases met. They even built a $2mil passenger terminal there around 1960, I believe with US funds, as oil was cheap.

Sheikh Osama Ben Laden, an American ally in the insurgency against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980''s, repeated warned the US against kafrs (infidels) staying in their holy land(Saudi Arabia.) He was ignored. After the first Gulf War, the US continued to station their troops in the kingdom, as they had for decades.
The comeuppance was the NYC world tower bombing, mostly by Saudi jihadis.
The US packed up and left, and are now in Doha, Qatar.
Not that we are out of the woods. Read "The Day of Islam" by Dr. Paul Williams.

[samsel3]

The administrations interest in Iran & nukes is a smoke screen for their real agenda. Their true interests are Cheney''s energy policy.Condi Rice is a former board member of Chevron Oil and mouthpiece for the administrations energy policy. Part of that policy is the The Caspian Sea pipeline which will go through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,Pakistan, to the gulf of Oman or on to India & Nepal.It''s cheaper to construct if they can go through Iran, but regime change is necessary first. The Caspian sea area holds one third of the world''s oil and south asian oil markets are their target market. This pipeline was the reason for the Afghanistan invasion. Cheney''s energy policy is the root of all these middle east wars, a federal court judge sealed all documents associated with it for the administration, and the national media are not allowed to discuss or comment on it. More troops are needed in Afghanistan to protect the contractors building the pipeline. Iran stands in the way of total control of global oil now with sales of oil to China''s Sinopec Oil,deal signed Dec.10,2007. Months ago China said there would be dire consequences if the US interfered with there direct oil contracts with Iran. Both parties in the Congress should be very concerned with China''s growing war machine and need for oil. They are the real threat & the administration doesn''t care they are in control! All that matters to them is BIG OIL and their corporate stock portfolios

[speakinup]

samsel3 WAH WAH WAH...

Hear the far left crybaby.

He can''t live with reality, so he spins his own world.

Hillary''s chances are spinning in the bowl. She now has to flip flop AGAIN, or run on her merits (we all know she ain''t gonna do THAT).

Even SeeBS is starting to admit the public likes how things are changing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Oh - this must be sooooo delicious! Enjoy, your just desserts, far left! You backed the wrong horse.

[speakinup]

oh yeah, it''s big oil alright. samsel3, that is so lame as to be laughable.

Educate yourself on shale oil insitu reclaimation, will you. At conservative (note - this is not a political ''conservative'' term) estimates, there are 20 Trillion barrels in Colorado and Utah (yes that is a ''T'') More than 5 TIMES the amount of Saudi Arabian known reserves.

Furthermore, it can be extracted at $30 a barrel, and environmentally friendly.

So jam your oil theory where the sun doesn''t shine, cry baby.

[samsel3]

On September 14,2002 Rep. James McDermott at a Capitol Hill Briefing said that politics and oil, not fear that Iraq will use WMD are driving factors behind the presidents call for regime change. McDermott said there was an organized effort to squelch such discussions. "The political operatives in the white house have been very careful to spin it away from oil. Anytime anybody sees a connection they spin it the other way."

[bizzzz-2009]

In five years since 9 11, I have NOT seen ONE organized demonstration by Muslim Americans condemning radical Islam or even terrorists, NOT ONE. Surely Muslims know how to demonstrate. You see them gather by the thousands and thousands for the return of Bhutto in Pakistan. You see them gather by the thousands in Gaza to protest Israeli oppression, and you see them gather by the thousands at parades for Hezzbollah in Tehran.But in a free society like the US, where demonstrations are both lawful and encouraged, NOT ONE Muslim demonstration condemning terrorists. Instead organizations like CAIR STATE THEY DENOUNCE TERRORIST ACTS AND RADICAL ISLAM BY DONATING MONEY TO THIS OR THAT ORGANIZATION.THE SAD THING IS, THEIR MONEY SILENCES US. THE DAY AMERICANS STOP TAKING MONEY FROM MUSLIMS, THE DAY WE AMERICANS TELL MUSLIMS " YOUR MONEY ISN''T GOOD HERE, WE WANT ACTION" WILL BE THE DAY I START BELIEVING THAT NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE JIHADISTS WANTING TO TURN AMERICA INTO A ISLAMIC STATE. WHATS CONVENIENT ABOUT GIVING MONEY IS THAT YOU CAN DO IT WITH LOW OR NO PROFILE WHATSOEVER. IT%u2019S PERFECT SITUATION FOR A GROUP THAT WANTS TO APPEASE THEIR DETRACTORS AND NOT ACTIVELY OR VISIBLY TAKE A POSITION ON AN ISSUE. THE WHOLE TIME, THEY LAUGH AT OUR INSATIABLE GREED.

[samsel3]

On September 14,2002 Rep. James McDermott at a Capitol Hill Briefing said that politics and oil, not fear that Iraq will use WMD are driving factors behind the presidents call for regime change. McDermott said there was an organized effort to squelch such discussions. "The political operatives in the white house have been very careful to spin it away from oil. Anytime anybody sees a connection they spin it the other way."

[samsel3]

The administrations interest in Iran & nukes is a smoke screen for their real agenda. Their true interests are Cheney''s energy policy.Condi Rice is a former board member of Chevron Oil and mouthpiece for the administrations energy policy. Part of that policy is the The Caspian Sea pipeline which will go through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,Pakistan, to the gulf of Oman or on to India & Nepal.It''s cheaper to construct if they can go through Iran, but regime change is necessary first. The Caspian sea area holds one third of the world''s oil and south asian oil markets are their target market. This pipeline was the reason for the Afghanistan invasion. Cheney''''s energy policy is the root of all these middle east wars, a federal court judge sealed all documents associated with it for the administration, and the national media are not allowed to discuss or comment on it. More troops are needed in Afghanistan to protect the contractors building the pipeline. Iran stands in the way of total control of global oil now with sales of oil to China''''s Sinopec Oil,deal signed Dec.10,2007. Months ago China said there would be dire consequences if the US interfered with there direct oil contracts with Iran. Both parties in the Congress should be very concerned with China''''s growing war machine and need for oil. They are the real threat & the administration doesn''t care they are in control! All that matters to them is BIG OIL and their corporate stock portfolios

[Con Mohrat]

speakinup wrote:

"there are 20 Trillion barrels in Colorado and Utah (yes that is a ''''T'''') More than 5 TIMES the amount of Saudi Arabian known reserves. Furthermore, it can be extracted at $30 a barrel, and environmentally friendly."

We have all read about the problems of extracting oil from shale, and, sad to say, it is NOT easy as you think, otherwise we would be heading in that direction.

When someone estimated $30/BBL, it may have been an old, optimistic estimate, and they may have omitted the cost of environmental factors afterward.

Boasting about a quadrillion barrels of "cheap" oil does not phase oil-rich OPEC nations like the Kingdom, or Kuwait, or Venezuela. Saudi''s once sold it for $2/BBL, and now it is over $90. They can live with any price.

How long can we?

[Con Mohrat]

This news article contains
"Both sides are still exchanging fire. There is still resistance from the Taliban. I think these are foreign fighters, al Qaeda members that we are facing."

And both sides have foreign fighters too. It is like WWI Battle of the Somme, where a tract of land is taken by one set of invaders, retaken by the opposition, ad nauseam.

We had similar taken-and-retaken occurrences in Korea and look where we are now--still in a state of war for 50 years.