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| Afghanistan | |
| Fierce battle rages for Taliban stronghold | |
| 2007-12-09 | |
More than 6,000 troops were engaged in intense fighting last night as British and American forces led a major offensive to seize the largest Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan. In what military commanders described as a defining battle for the stability of Helmand province, around 4,500 Nato soldiers and Afghan National Army troops launched a series of attacks against a 2,000-strong Taliban force entrenched in the town of Musa Qala. Fighting was expected to last for days.
For both sides Musa Qala has become deeply symbolic - it is the only urban centre that the Islamist group has been able to take and hold. Among the forces threatening its perimeter defences last night were more than 1,200 British troops, including sizeable numbers from the 1st Battalion Scots Guards and 40 Commando, Royal Marines. Sources in Helmand described yesterday's fighting as 'heavy', with US airstrikes continuously targeting Taliban positions around the town. Twelve Taliban rebels were declared dead in one attack, including a commander believed to be responsible for attacks against international troops. Under cover supplied by US aircraft, international forces and Afghan infantrymen advanced on Musa Qala from three directions across mountainous terrain. Military strategists have been planning an attack for months, aware that it is encircled by many well defended positions and minefields. Taliban anti-aircraft guns are understood to line ridges above the town, which has just one road in and one road out. With the fighting showing no signs of ebbing, a Taliban claim that several armoured vehicles had been destroyed was dismissed. British defence sources said there had been 'steady progress'. Earlier, hundreds of US soldiers were dropped from 19 helicopters, including troop carriers. They fought throughout Friday night, a tactic designed to let Afghan government troops, backed by British units, move in. Hundreds of UK soldiers have been deployed from the British army's forward operating base, Camp Bastion, in Sangin, around 20km away. Military commanders speculated that, if the Taliban sustained large casualties, they might flee the town and head north into mountains. 'In the past, Taliban have withdrawn when faced with a large force in the field, but that remains to be seen,' said Eaton. For the Taliban, Musa Qala has become a key centre of military and drug smuggling operations. For the international forces, ousting the enemy would take away their last major stronghold before the winter sets in, a period when the Taliban traditionally build up their reserves. Despite the intensity of the fighting, the Taliban claim they are confident of resisting the offensive. Taliban commander Mullah Ahmadullah said: 'Morale is high... we will not lay down our weapons. We will fight to the death.' Taliban fighters have been given orders to carry out attacks far more widely than Musa Qala to try to deflect attention from the town, but Nato sources say they have contingency plans to deal with that. Militants overran Musa Qala in February, four months after British troops left the town after a contentious peace agreement that gave security responsibilities to Afghan elders. Musa Qala has been in the control of Taliban fighters ever since. Situated north of Helmand, Musa Qala and the region around it have seen the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan this year. It is also in the middle of the opium poppy-growing belt. This year has been the deadliest since the US-led invasion in 2001. More than 6,200 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, according to an AP news agency tally of official figures. As the battle raged in Musa Qala, Taliban militants in the neighbouring Sangin district were accused yesterday of hanging a 12-year-old boy in an orchard earlier in the week. According to provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal, the boy was murdered because he had been giving information to the Afghan government and international forces, according to provincial police chief Mohammad Hussein Andiwal. In a speech, Afghan President Hamid Karzai also accused the Taliban of suspending a 15-year-old boy from a ceiling and lighting a gas stove underneath him, burning him alive. 'Does anyone believe a human being can be so savage as to burn alive a 15-year-old boy?' he said. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #17 Kill. Them. All. No resting up in winter camps in the mountains or back in pakiwakiland. And let's also go all Creon on 'em. The dead lay where they fall. No burials, and anyone who tries winds up lying out for the buzzards with 'em... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-12-09 20:51 |
| #16 They are dug into a major poppy growing center. Anybody want to place bets that they have a huge bunch of opium that they haven't finished converting to a nice transportable morphine base or heroin? So, they can't afford to split yet... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2007-12-09 20:21 |
| #15 The Orcs will cross the line. Don't know where. Don't know when. Don't know how. But they will. That's what demented, deranged, kool-aid drinkers always do. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-12-09 20:04 |
| #14 'Does anyone believe a human being can be so savage as to burn alive a 15-year-old boy?' he said. Savage indeed. This is what Muslims did to three Christians in nearby Turkey, for printing Bibles. The men were tortured for 2 hours. After being tied up naked, their penises and testicles were cut off, each in front of the other. Then those parts were chopped up. Then the men had their rectums split open. Before death they were disemboweled by a holes cut in their torso and the intestines slowly removed and chopped into pieces. Their throats were cut only when authorities arrived. |
| Posted by: www 2007-12-09 19:34 |
| #13 "A passive defense is just a deferred form of suicide." -- Napoleon Bonaparte Yep, said that right before the assault on Mon WadEh when he shattered the Egyptian Spherical Defense. Things haven't been the same sense. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-12-09 19:06 |
| #12 I assume the Taliban have a shortage in leadership, which indicates that they will dig in and fight till Allan gives them a clue about the shortage of virgins and the coldness of death without sufficient virginity. So, I predict a surrender around Wednesday. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-12-09 18:50 |
| #11 Spiny GI: Hopefully those military commanders are speculating for the benefit of the press knowing our fifth |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-12-09 15:04 |
| #10 If they leave they're in the open and easy targets for the apaches. If they stay, they're also as good as dead. Nice choice, huh? |
| Posted by: Kojo Cloque4172 2007-12-09 14:59 |
| #9 Military commanders speculated that, if the Taliban sustained large casualties, they might flee the town and head north into mountains. 'In the past, Taliban have withdrawn when faced with a large force in the field, but that remains to be seen,' said Eaton. Seems illogical to me, I'd be setting ambushes to the south & east as their safe haven is Pak.and iran, the diea that they would move north into the moutains implies they have the supplies needed to sustain them massed up there, if a forces goal is to use winter as a time to reheal, the moutains wouldnt be the place in afghanistan to get that goal accomplised. perhaps someones playing checkers with us, when we are playing chess. |
| Posted by: Spiny Gl 2511 2007-12-09 11:06 |
| #8 "A passive defense is just a deferred form of suicide." -- Napoleon Bonaparte |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-12-09 09:51 |
| #7 Falaise. (pop pop pop, butter melts) |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2007-12-09 04:21 |
| #6 gee. I wonder who will win. |
| Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 2007-12-09 03:14 |
| #5 I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. |
| Posted by: spiffo 2007-12-09 03:14 |
| #4 'In the past, Taliban have withdrawn when faced with a large force in the field,' Gee, I heard there were only 15 troops going after them. Those pansies wouldn't shy away from 15 troops, would they? >:-) In any case, I thought Coalition forces like to see about a 3:1 ratio of troops. Does this suggest they think that there are only about 1000 soon-to-be-dead-or-surrendering Taliban? 'Does anyone believe a human being can be so savage as to burn alive a 15-year-old boy?' No, it's impossible. That's why they call them terrorists. The MSM and HRW must still be in shocked disbelief or they would have said something by now. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-12-09 01:12 |
| #3 When you contend with pure evil, expect the unexpected. Bless our Soldiers. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-12-09 00:58 |
| #2 'Morale is high... we will not lay down our weapons. We will fight to the death.' Works for me. 'Does anyone believe a human being can be so savage as to burn alive a 15-year-old boy?' That's why we often refer to them as Orcs. But we may need to cease soon -- it seems the Orcs have filed a defamation suit.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-12-09 00:37 |
| #1 nite nite, Taliban. You'll be a lot warmer tomorrow |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-12-09 00:28 |