LiberalNation
05-31-2010, 12:16 PM
Looks like a fight to take the land back may come soon. Why did we not support the afghans, they look really bad losing ground like that. Im sure the general know tho.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100529/wl_mcclatchy/3520303
KABUL — Taliban forces spearheading a spring offensive seized a remote town near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan Saturday as Afghan government forces retreated, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.
After a week of intense fighting, hundreds of Taliban fighters overwhelmed local government forces, who said they were making a "tactical retreat" from Barg-e-Matal to spare civilians from getting caught in the crossfire.
Taliban fighters seized control Barg-e-Matal nearly a year after they briefly seized the isolated Nuristan district center last summer but were driven out by U.S. and Afghan forces.
This time, hundreds of Afghan fighters defending the town fled early Saturday morning when they began to run out of ammunition and supplies. The U.S.-led coalition provided limited air support and ran a few supply runs for the Afghan government forces, but didn't offer significant aid, according to Afghan and U.S. officials.
"We could not resist," said Haji Mohammed Ismaile, a former Barg-e-Matal district governor, in a telephone interview with McClatchy as he joined hundreds of fleeing Afghan fighters. "There was no support from the government or the (international military) coalition."
"We could hear them on the radio calling us to surrender and telling us that if we lay down our weapons they would not kill us," said Ismaile. "But we did not surrender because they would slaughter us."
The Taliban assault is the latest in the militants' expanding spring offensive on a number of fronts, while U.S.-led forces are trying to train Afghan forces and mounting an offensive in southern Afghanistan that some officials say lacks sufficient troops.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100529/wl_mcclatchy/3520303
KABUL — Taliban forces spearheading a spring offensive seized a remote town near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan Saturday as Afghan government forces retreated, according to U.S. and Afghan officials.
After a week of intense fighting, hundreds of Taliban fighters overwhelmed local government forces, who said they were making a "tactical retreat" from Barg-e-Matal to spare civilians from getting caught in the crossfire.
Taliban fighters seized control Barg-e-Matal nearly a year after they briefly seized the isolated Nuristan district center last summer but were driven out by U.S. and Afghan forces.
This time, hundreds of Afghan fighters defending the town fled early Saturday morning when they began to run out of ammunition and supplies. The U.S.-led coalition provided limited air support and ran a few supply runs for the Afghan government forces, but didn't offer significant aid, according to Afghan and U.S. officials.
"We could not resist," said Haji Mohammed Ismaile, a former Barg-e-Matal district governor, in a telephone interview with McClatchy as he joined hundreds of fleeing Afghan fighters. "There was no support from the government or the (international military) coalition."
"We could hear them on the radio calling us to surrender and telling us that if we lay down our weapons they would not kill us," said Ismaile. "But we did not surrender because they would slaughter us."
The Taliban assault is the latest in the militants' expanding spring offensive on a number of fronts, while U.S.-led forces are trying to train Afghan forces and mounting an offensive in southern Afghanistan that some officials say lacks sufficient troops.