Taliban already in violation of Helmand deal

Independent:

Up to 80 Taliban fighters are reported to have been killed by Nato troops in a battle near a Helmand town where a peace agreement was signed recently with tribal chiefs, paving the way for British troops to withdraw from the area.

The deal at Musa Qala, under which local communities pledged to provide security and keep out the Taliban, was seen as a possible template for Nato forces to withdraw from other frontline flashpoints.

Some senior Afghan officials, however, had complained that the Taliban had engineered the Musa Qala agreement to regroup and rearm, and say their scepticism has been vindicated by the latest round of fighting.

Afghan police told Nato forces a number of insurgents had gathered around 10 miles south of the town. Soon afterwards a 150-strong Danish contingent serving alongside British forces came under attack and called on air support. The ensuing battle, during which helicopter-gunships and warplanes pounded Taliban positions, lasted for more than four hours.

Afghan security forces had told Nato that insurgents have increased their activity in the past few weeks in the area between the Musa Qala and Nawzad districts, a Nato spokesman said. He added that although the fighting had taken place near Musa Qala, it was not actually in the town itself, the location covered in the agreement between British troops and the local elders.

"The elders ... have extraordinary influence, but that influence doesn't spread across the whole district, just mostly in the town," the spokesman said. "If anything, the deal in Musa Qala has freed up more of our troops to conduct the kind of reconnaissance patrol that was so effective in this engagement."

...

The Taliban have apparently acted in bad faith which is not surprising. This story additional detail to this earlier report on the battle. It also suggest more evidence that Pakistan has been wrong in its dealings with the Taliban.