Taliban on the run in Helmand

Telegraph:

It is only a few days since the mud-walled fort situated in the heart of Helmand's lush river valley was captured from the Taliban, but the local Afghan tribal leaders are already busy making plans for the future.

For years the farmers who tend the neatly arranged rows of crops along the river banks have been forced to endure the Taliban's oppressive rule. Few dared challenge the Taliban regime after a group of Afghans who had objected to the Taliban's strict implementation of Islamic law were hanged from a tree. After that the villagers knew better than to confront their Taliban overlords.

But now the Taliban have been driven from their primitive citadel, and the tribal chiefs have crowded into the dusty compound to thank the British troops who had masterminded their liberation.

"The British are our friends. They have given us our lives back," explains one farmer. "We now have the chance to make a better life for ourselves."

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Taken by surprise, most of the Taliban had fled across the border to Pakistan, or to other Taliban strongholds further south. A few fighters were captured, including a bomb maker who was found to have the highest recorded amount of explosive material on his body. "It's like he'd been rolling around in the stuff," commented a young Welsh Guards' officer.

After detailed briefings with senior officers, Gen Richards appeared upbeat about the operation's achievements, which he regards as the template for future Nato offensives. "This is the first salvo in the plan for the next 12-18 months, and we have every confidence that we can prevail," said Gen Richards. "This year could be the turning point. What we need to do is to persuade the Taliban that they can be beaten, not just in Helmand, but in Pakistan as well."

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There is much more.

The Taliban is unable to resist for very long the superior firepower of the NATO troops. Retreat is their best alternative at this point. The human bomb attacks like the one in Kabul today are not a winning tactic and it waste their fighters which they are already short.