Taliban raid puts peace agreement in doubt

Hundreds of Taliban militants overran a southern Afghan town that British troops left after a contentious peace agreement in October, destroying the government centre and temporarily holding elders hostage, officials and residents said today.

The assault, days after a Taliban commander was killed outside the town of Musa Qala, raises doubts about the future of the peace deal, which has been criticised by some Western officials as a Nato retreat in hostile Taliban territory.

Two residents of Musa Qala estimated that between 200 and 300 Taliban fighters had overtaken the town. They said the fighters took weapons from the police on Wednesday and destroyed the town’s government centre yesterday.

Colonel Tom Collins, a spokesman for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force, said an “unknown number” of militants had entered Musa Qala. He added that no Nato-led forces were in the town.

British forces are based in Helmand province but left Musa Qala in October after a peace agreement was signed between elders and the Helmand governor. According to the deal, security was turned over to local leaders, while Nato forces were prevented from entering the town.

Some Western officials complained that the deal put the area, which had been a centre for clashes between British troops and resurgent Taliban militants, outside of government and Nato control.

Asadullah Wafa, the governor of Helmand province, said the militants destroyed part of the compound housing the district’s governor and police. “People have closed down the shops this morning and those living near the area have moved out of fear,” he said.

Mohammad Wali, a resident of Musa Qala who estimated that between 200 and 300 fighters were in town, said residents feared fighting between Nato and militants would resume. Raz Mohammad, another resident, said the Taliban had taken about 12 town elders hostage.

Col Collins said there were indications the elders were now safe.

Last month, Nato said an airstrike outside of Musa Qala destroyed a Taliban command post, killing a senior militant leader and a number of his deputies. Nato said the January 25 airstrike “was outside the area of the agreement” and did not violate it.

However, Wafa said the Taliban told a gathering of elders last week that they considered the airstrike a violation, and it appeared the assault was in retaliation.

Violence in Afghanistan has risen sharply in the last year. Some 4,000 people died in insurgency-related violence in 2006.

A senior Western official in Kabul recently criticised the Musa Qala deal, saying “it should not be replicated”, following suggestions that the deal was reached with pro-Taliban village elders.

The official said the problem with the deal was that it “took the government out.” The official spoke only on condition he would not be identified due to the sensitive nature of the subject.

The official admitted the Afghan government did not have a lot of control in Musa Qala to begin with, “but there is a difference between not having it, and excluding it by government deal”.

However, a Nato spokesman in Afghanistan defended the deal.

“We recognise that there are risks in this, we believe that tribal elders need to be given a chance to produce a local solution to a local problem which fits with the culture of the Afghan people and has the support of the government of Afghanistan,” Mark Laity said last week.

He said at the time said there were “clear signs” the deal was a success, “but the final judgment is yet to be made”.

On Sunday American General Dan McNeil will replace British General David Richards as the commander of more than 40,000 Nato-led troops in Afghanistan. Military officials have said privately that the change of command will mark a new approach in dealing with resurgent Taliban militants.

In western Afghanistan, meanwhile, militants attacked border police from three directions, officials said. General Abdul Rahman, head of Afghanistan’s border police, said 20 militants died in the subsequent clashes.

US-led coalition troops killed as many as seven militants spotted setting up a rocket in eastern Paktika province, a statement said.

At the US base at Bagram, Major General David M Rodriguez took command of US troops in Afghanistan as part of a routine rotation that has seen the bulk of 10th Mountain Division troops replaced by soldiers from the 82nd Airborne.

The outgoing commander, Major General Benjamin Freakley, said Afghanistan still faces a “strong threat” from the Taliban and other militant groups, but that fighters have been weakened in the last year.

“I think the bigger parts of this insurgency do not have legs beneath it,” Maj Gen Freakley said. “But it is not gone. There’s going to be fighting for another few years. They’re not going to give up.”