KABUL, Afghanistan — Days after Taliban fighters overran Musa Qala, a U.S. commander pledged that Western troops would take it back. Nine months later, the town is still Taliban territory, but that may be changing.
A string of recent battles around Musa Qala, won overwhelmingly by American special forces, signal a renewed U.S. focus on the symbolic Taliban stronghold.
An Afghan army commander said Sunday that U.S. and Afghan forces have taken over the area around the town and that Afghan commanders are holding talks with Musa Qala’s tribal leaders to persuade them to expel the Arab, Chechen and Uzbek foreign fighters who roam its streets alongside the Taliban militants.
U.S. special forces soldiers accompanied by Afghan troops killed about 80 fighters during a six-hour battle outside Musa Qala on Saturday, the latest in a series of increasingly deadly engagements in Helmand province — the world’s largest poppy-growing region and the front line of Afghanistan’s bloodiest fighting this year.
There have been at least five major battles in the area since Sept. 1, including Saturday’s fighting, and special forces troops have killed more than 250 militants, according to coalition statements.
The vast majority of Western forces in Helmand are British, though U.S. special forces troops are also active in the province.
Taliban militants overran Musa Qala on Feb. 1, four months after British troops left the town, having handed over security responsibilities to Afghan elders.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, meanwhile, said an investigation into allegations of civilian casualties in Wardak province on Oct. 22 found that no civilians had been killed. A provincial council member at the time said 12 civilians had been killed.
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