Afghanistan - British Defense Minister arrives as NATO battles 2000 Taliban in Musa Qala

AFP via translation | December 9, 2007

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via translation -

The British Minister of Defense in Afghanistan, fighting in Musa Qala

KABUL - The British Minister of Defense Des Browne arrived in Afghanistan where he met with his counterpart at the situation in the country, scene of an offensive by NATO and the Afghan army against the Taliban in the south, it was learned Sunday from diplomatic source.

Arriving Saturday, he Browne met Sunday with his counterpart Abdul Rahim Wardak before traveling in the city of Herat (west), said the British embassy in Kabul.

On the first day of his visit, the minister also met with British soldiers in Kabul, according to a spokesman for the embassy who did not provide details on the rest of the program.

The visit comes as the NATO troops backed by the Afghan army launched an operation Saturday in the town of Musa Qala to resume this is a district capital in southern Afghanistan that the Taliban control for ten months.

A British soldier, two children and a dozen Taliban were killed during the offensive, according to official sources British and Afghan.

The troops of NATO and the Afghan National Army (ANA) have captured two rebel commanders and were Sunday at 2 km from the center of Musa Qala, said the Afghan Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

"The ANA backed by NATO troops continue to move south, west and, since last night, they also advancing from the north," says the text.

One resident, clashes took place Sunday morning outside the city. "The Taliban have resisted and there is no more fighting at the moment," said the witness, Mahmood.

A spokesman usual of the Taliban, Yousuf Ahmadi, also reported exchanges of fire. "There were clashes but there was more to the moement," he said.

The Force International Security Assistance (ISAF), said that NATO troops are moving with great caution because of the risk of booby traps (FDI). "The risk of booby traps is high, so they are progressing methodically," said AFP General Charles Anthony, spokesman for the ISAF.

A Taliban commander entrenched in Musa Qala said Saturday by phone to AFP that 2,000 fighters were now on a war footing, but that figure could not be confirmed by independent sources.

Musa Qala is the capital district of the same name in northern Helmand province, the main opium-producing area in Afghanistan, a country which is by far the world's leading supplier of the drug (92% of world production) .

The Afghan authorities have assured lately that more and more of foreign fighters linked to al Qaeda, were entered in Helmand, particularly in Musa Qala.

Taking Musa Qala by the Taliban in February had been the consequence of a very controversial agreement with the tribal leaders of the region under which British troops of the ISAF had agreed to withdraw from the promise that the tribes would take away the Taliban themselves and maintain peace.