Afghan troops withdraw from Helmand counts tactical move

Afghanistan National Defense Ministry says that the Afghan troops pull out from Musa Qala district of Helmand province was a tactical move not a retreat.

The ministry noted that with abandoning the security outpost in Musa Qala, the Afghan troops will soon launch a widespread operation on the armed Taliban group.

Afghan forces on Saturday pulled out of bases in Musa Qala, a strategic district of the southern province of Helmand, after months of heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents.

Helmand, a traditional heartland of the Taliban and one of the world’s biggest centers of opium production, has been threatened for months and the United States recently sent hundreds of soldiers to the province to bolster its defense.

“We have managed a regular plan with the ministry of interior to embedding powers for once again. The people will witness that we defeat the enemy by this move,” said Dawlat Waziri, spokesman of the defense ministry.

Helmand’s governor has also accepted that Afghan troops have changed positions not retreated in Musa Qala.

“This was a tactical move; pulling out from one place and replacing in another place,” said Mirza Khan Rahimi, governor of Helmand province.

Fierce fighting has raged in Musa Qala and other parts of Helmand for months and the Taliban overran the district in August last year before they were driven back by Afghan forces backed by U.S. airstrikes.

Musa Qala itself is a dry and sparsely inhabited district that British and American troops fought hard to control between 2006 and 2008 but its loss could bring further losses elsewhere, including Sangin where government forces have been clinging on.

Although Helmand has been one of the provinces most at risk, the Taliban have been pushing forward across the country, putting severe strain on government troops, fighting alone since international forces ended most combat operations in 2014.