Afghanistan: Afghan army entered Musa Qala

AFP via translation | December 10, 2007

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via translation -

Afghanistan: Afghan army entered Musa Qala

KABUL - The Afghan army entered Monday in the capital district of Musa Qala, detained for ten months by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, told AFP a spokesman for NATO.

"The Afghan army entered the town of Musa Qala," said AFP Major Charles Anthony, spokesman Forces International Security Assistance (ISAF) by NATO.

Asked if she now controlled the entire district, the spokesman replied: "The Afghan army has at least entered the capital."

In a statement, the spokesman of the Defense Ministry, General Mohammed Zahir Azimi said that Afghan forces backed by NATO entered in the district of Musa Qala "and not the agglomeration itself, then the joint forces that are already in the district since the beginning of their offensive, officially Friday.

"The clean-up operations are underway," added the spokesperson.

[Recon Dad]

We still have little detail on what happened from Friday until Monday. Injury figures? Did the Taliban have 2,000 or 300? Were they allowed to escape North? Was everything the Taliban said just BS? How did the Afghans do between Hashish breaks?

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BBC -

LATEST: Afghan defence ministry says Taleban have withdrawn from Musa Qala. More soon.

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Sky News - UK Troops Retake Taliban Stronghold

[domenad]

So they did their “tactical retreat” like they said they might. This is going to be an endless cat and mouse until we get Pakistan to get serious. The only way to get rid of a mouse is to back it into a corner and kill it.

[WL-law]

So they did their “tactical retreat” like they said they might. This is going to be an endless cat and mouse until we get Pakistan to get serious.

Reminiscent of the Northern Alliance's 'fights' with the Taliban before the US got involved. Negotiated retreats seemed to occur just before an actual battle.

[tobyhill]

***A Taliban spokesman said militant fighters had chosen to abandon the town to avoid high civilian and Taliban casualties***

Yesterday there was a report that the Taliban bottled themselves in but now were able to leave? My guess is this was merely Taliban Propaganda with some townspeople's help.

[tobyhill]

Over 1600 articles about the retaking of the town and the most the media can count dead is 22 Taliban. I’m starting to believe the media had been playing games with this supposed Taliban takeover?

[Rikstir]

i have been tracking the battle too and am impressed with the amount of threads you have posted on the issue. Afghanistan is grossly under-reported here on these pages and its good to see it getting the coverage it deserves from time to time.

As with most things the Taliban say, the claims of 2,000 fighters appears to have been wide of the mark. A few hundred probably, and these will have legged it, or payed the price as UK, Afghan and other allies assaulted the town.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Posted this:

BBC: Why the battle for Musa Qala matters ( Taliban in Afghanistan)

[Cap Huff]

Thanks for the ping.