Troops drive Taliban from key territory

Hundreds of Taliban fighters retreated in trucks and on motorcycles from Musa Qala, a southern Afghan town they had overrun in February, as Afghan and international troops closed in.

The battle gave NATO a symbolic triumph in the deadliest year of fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 -- the year a U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power -- and boosted hopes that the current Afghan government can expand into a poppy-rich area of Helmand province where it wields little influence.

Musa Qala was the only key territory the militants held. It fell to them in February despite the presence of British troops nearby, and the question remained whether overstretched Afghan and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops could hold the town in the long term.

President Hamid Karzai said the decision to enter Musa Qala followed reports of brutality there by Taliban, Al Qaeda and foreign fighters. But Karzai also said local Taliban commanders had committed themselves to switch allegiance.