Major NATO Offensive In Afghanistan Underway

International and Afghan troops have begun a major offensive to retake a strategic town in southern Afghanistan from the Taleban, Nato sources said.
Nato says Afghan and British ground troops used heavy gunfire against the Taleban on the outskirts of Musa Qala.

It says the main assault will be carried out overnight by US soldiers who have been dropped in by helicopter.

The Taleban say they have 2,000 troops defending the town in Helmand province, which they seized in February.

Musa Qala is the only substantial town the Taleban holds in Afghanistan. For now, they say they are holding their ground.

The BBC's David Loyn, in Kabul, says the town has been the main centre of drugs trading in the country since the Taleban moved in in February and has taken on symbolic importance for both sides.

Of course the Taliban are saying that they're holding ground. Why would they claim otherwise. They're also probably puffing up their numbers.

It's also important to remember how the Taliban managed to gain control over the town in the first place:

Taliban stormed Musa Qala in early February, disarming police and taking over the district administrative centre from a tribal council.

The takeover followed a controversial deal about four months earlier which saw British forces withdraw on the request of tribal elders who said they would keep out the rebels and maintain the peace.

Azimi stressed that the operation to retake Musa Qala was launched at the request of the elders, who had been prepared.

Meanwhile, across the border in Pakistan's Swat district, the Pakistani forces are making slow progress against the Islamists there. Pakistani forces captured the compound of a major Taliban leader, Maulana Fazlullah. This is as the Taliban are making moves towards Peshawar.