Major Victory in Afghanistan

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,” he said. “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. 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, said, “Afghan and NATO forces have reached the center, but at this point they are consolidating their position.”