Friday, December 7, 2007

It's On: NATO, Brit Forces To Challenge Taliban Stronghold


This could be real bloody. The town of Musa Qala in Helmand province in Afghanistan is a prized possession of the Taliban and now, NATO forces (mostly British) and Afghan troops are on the door's edge of an all out assault to take the prize out of Taliban hands.

The Taliban are not unaware of the imminent attack and siege, and although they might decide to cut and run, this could still be a very deadly affair.

It's my hope that the NATO forces and Afghan troops have identified all of the escape routes so if there is the retreat of the Taliban, they can be "surprised" on their way up into the mountains.

Prayers goes out here at Holger Awakens to all the Brit, Afghan and NATO forces soon to look the enemy in the eye.

Full story from The Telegraph here.


Allies prepare to seize Taliban stronghold
By Tom Coghlan, Kabul Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:53am GMT 07/12/2007

A key Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan is expected to fall to British troops and the national army within a matter of days. Residents report that Nato aircraft have dropped leaflets warning of an imminent assault on Musa Qala in the north of Helmand province.

The town is of huge symbolic value to the Taliban. It has been in its hands for 10 months and is the only urban centre that the Islamist group has been able to take and hold.
Western sources have told The Daily Telegraph that it is planned that Afghan forces will lead the assault - the first time that the fledgling national army has undertaken an operation on such a scale.

After advancing from the base at Sangin, the British and Afghan troops are now said to be just two miles from the town. Local people have now begun to flee into the surrounding desert.

Contacted by satellite telephone, Taliban commanders stated that they had already mined routes to the town, which is about the size of Cambridge. They also claimed to have captured and destroyed a British tank.
"I have 300 Mujahideen with me," said Mullah Ahmad Muslim. "We have brought our best artillery. We have ZSU anti-aircraft guns in place to attack the helicopters."

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