12 Taliban killed in fight to retake town

A NATO and Afghan operation to retake the Taliban-controlled southern town of Musa Qala has killed at least 12 Taliban fighters and two children, the Afghan Defense Ministry said Saturday.

In other violence in southern Afghanistan, a NATO soldier was killed and one wounded Saturday in an explosion, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s International Security Assistance Force said, without providing details.

Taliban militants overran Musa Qala in February, four months after British troops handed over security responsibilities there to Afghan elders.

A string of battles around Musa Qala in recent months has signaled a renewed focus by U.S. forces to take on the Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan’s poppy-growing south.

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi said elders in the area had asked the Taliban to leave, but when they refused, the elders sought help from government troops.

“For some period of time, Musa Qala has become a base for terrorists. Hundreds of foreign terrorists have gathered there,” he said.

Twelve Taliban militants have been killed in fighting since the operation began Friday afternoon. In a separate incident, two children were killed when security forces fought with Taliban militants traveling in a convoy with civilians, Azimi said.

U.S.-led coalition forces conducted airstrikes in an operation targeting a Taliban commander believed to be responsible for attacks against security forces and involvement in weapons and drug trafficking, the coalition said. Several militants reportedly were killed and a large weapons cache was destroyed.

Musa Jan, a resident of the Musa Qala district, said NATO and Afghan security forces had dropped fliers from helicopters telling villagers: “Don’t go outside your home. We want to bring peace to Musa Qala.”

Taliban commander Mullah Ahmadullah said by telephone that insurgents were strengthening their positions in Musa Qala.

“The morale of the Taliban is high. . . . We will fight until the death,” Ahmadullah said as he commanded militants to take their positions.

Situated north of Helmand, Musa Qala and the region around it have seen the heaviest fighting in Afghanistan this year, the deadliest since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. More than 6,200 people have been killed in insurgency-related violence, according to an Associated Press tally of figures from Western and Afghan officials.