And we didn't even win the battle, I'll bet!
I don't believe a word of the Zionist-controlled War Dailies when it comes to Iraq or Afghanistan, so why should I now?
"Taliban Loses Grip on Last Major Town" by TAIMOOR SHAH and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec. 10 — Afghan and NATO troops retook the town of Musa Qala in southern Afghanistan on Monday, forcing the Taliban to withdraw from the only sizable town they hold in the country, Afghan and NATO officials said. There was no clear picture of casualties, but the Taliban and civilians said there had been heavy bombardment overnight.
The news came as Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain made a surprise visit to Afghanistan and met with President Hamid Karzai. About 7,000 British troops are deployed in Helmand Province, in southern Afghanistan. Retaking Musa Qala, which they abandoned more than a year ago, has been one of their main objectives in the province, which has the highest level of Taliban activity as well as illicit opium production.
Wali Muhammad, police chief of the neighboring district, Sangin, said Afghan and NATO forces entered the town at 2 p.m. after heavy fighting:
“The Taliban are gone. They faced humiliation and heavy casualties.”
A large Taliban force attacked Sangin just before dawn Monday, apparently as a diversionary tactic, but the Afghans fought them off and suffered no casualties, he said.
See the spin, readers?
The Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen. Zaher Azimi, confirmed that Musa Qala was in government hands again but said fighting was still continuing on the outskirts of the town.
Maj. Charles Anthony, a spokesman for the NATO-led force in Afghanistan:
“Afghan and NATO forces have reached the center, but at this point they are consolidating their position.”
A NATO statement: "Progress will be deliberate, appropriate and measured [because of concern about the possibility of mines and roadside bombs]."
The Taliban conceded that their fighters had pulled out at 2 p.m., saying it was a tactical withdrawal to avoid their own and civilian casualties.
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban, said he was with the Musa Qala force and the Taliban had pulled out but were not far away:
“We will carry out a hit-and-run war. Losing Musa Qala doesn’t mean that we will stop fighting.”
He said the Taliban had lost eight fighters over the three days of fighting. He added that heavy fighting in Landy Nawa, near Musa Qala, on Sunday night had killed civilians. It was not possible to verify his assertions.
The NATO and Afghan officials said that there had been air support in the operation, and that they did not have information about any casualties. Four civilians have been killed since the beginning of the operation three days ago, General Azimi said.
Oh, the MURDERING TRUTH finally starts to SEEP OUT, huh?
The Taliban have broad freedom of movement in the southern provinces, but Musa Qala was one of the few towns in its district fully under their control. It had become an important base for their insurgency, and losing the town will be a blow.
For British troops, who have struggled to gain the upper hand since deploying in Helmand in 2006 during a Taliban resurgence there, retaking the town will be a valuable face-saving exercise in expanding the authority of the Afghan government.
Civilians who fled the town as the fighting began said that the military was preventing them from returning to their homes.
Matiullah, a resident who was trying to return home, contacted by telephone:
“We heard that there are a lot of civilians casualties but we don’t know the exact numbers. We are in great anxiety about the condition of our relatives who stayed in the town.”
Notice how the Times' saves that for last?!
Case closed, readers!
