 Afghan and NATO-led troops killed, wounded and detained hundreds of insurgents during fighting in the Taliban's biggest stronghold, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
| "During the successful operation by ISAF and Afghan troops in Musa Qala, hundreds of insurgents including several commanders and tens of foreign fighters have been either killed, wounded or detained." |
Musa Qala, in the southern province of Helmand, took on a symbolic importance after the Taliban seized it in February following the breakdown of a much-criticised local truce that allowed besieged British troops to pull out of the town in October last year. Thousands of Afghan and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops captured the town on Tuesday after one of the biggest operations the Afghan army has carried out. "During the successful operation by ISAF and Afghan troops in Musa Qala, hundreds of insurgents including several commanders and tens of foreign fighters have been either killed, wounded or detained," Defence Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi told a news conference. "We can not say exactly how many enemies have been killed at this time as we are still busy collecting dead bodies from Musa Qala," he said.
"Afghan and NATO troops also bombed an important Taliban meeting in the mountains of Sangin and Musa Qala district that led to a high number of casualties," Azimi said. |
