Afghan security forces supported by NATO-led troops will soon launch an operation to recapture a southern town that was overrun by Taliban militants, an official said yesterday.
General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the defense ministry, said the Taliban remained in control of the town of Musa Qala in Helmand Province, which British troops left after a contentious peace agreement in October.
Hundreds of Taliban militants overran Musa Qala on Thursday evening, destroying the government center and temporarily holding elders hostage, officials and residents said on Friday.
PHOTO: AP
The militants' assault, days after a Taliban commander was killed outside the town, raises doubts about the future of the peace deal, which has been criticized by some Western officials as a NATO retreat in hostile Taliban territory.
"We have a plan and we are going to launch that plan very soon," Azimi said.
"All our operations are conducted jointly with the police and NATO," he said without elaborating further.
Squadron Leader Dave Marsh, a spokesman for the NATO-led troops in southern Afghanistan, said that alliance troops stand ready to respond to any decision made by the Afghan government.
Colonel Tom Collins, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, said an "unknown number" of militants had entered Musa Qala. He said late on Friday that no NATO-led forces were in the town.
British forces are based in Helmand Province but left Musa Qala in October after a peace agreement was signed between elders and the Helmand governor. According to the deal, security was turned over to local leaders, while NATO forces were prevented from entering the town.
Some Western officials complained that the deal put the area, which had been a center for clashes between British troops and resurgent Taliban militants, outside of government and NATO control.
Asadullah Wafa, the governor of Helmand Province, said the militants destroyed part of the compound housing the district's governor and police.
"People have closed down the shops this morning and those living near the area have moved out of fear," he said on Friday.
Mohammad Wali, a resident of Musa Qala who estimated that between 200 and 300 fighters were in town, said residents feared fighting between NATO and militants would resume. Raz Mohammad, another resident, said the Taliban had taken about 12 town elders hostage. Collins said there were indications the elders were now safe.
Late last month, NATO said an airstrike outside of Musa Qala destroyed a Taliban command post, killing a senior militant leader and a number of his deputies. NATO said the Jan. 25 airstrike "was outside the area of the agreement" and did not violate it.
However, Wafa said the Taliban told a gathering of elders last week that they considered the airstrike a violation, and it appeared the assault was in retaliation.
Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply. Some 4,000 people died in insurgency-related violence last year, according to a count based on numbers from Afghan, NATO and US officials.
US General Dan McNeil will replace British General David Richards today as the commander of more than 40,000 NATO-led troops in Afghanistan.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the