KABUL, Afghanistan, June 1, (AP): US helicopters flew Afghan troops into a remote district overrun by the Taleban and recaptured the main town Tuesday without firing a shot, military officials said.
The move comes ahead of a major conference in Kabul starting Wednesday where Afghan President Hamid Karzai will try to build consensus for peace overtures to the insurgents. The Taleban on Tuesday dismissed the conference as serving the interests of “foreign invaders.” A unit of about 200 elite Afghan troops landed in Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan province before dawn in an assault backed by US helicopters and a handful of American advisers, US officers familiar with the operation told The Associated Press. They recaptured the main town in the region without shooting and no one was harmed, NATO said in a statement, though the operation was expected to continue for a few days. Taleban fighters were believed to have left the town and may have taken positions elsewhere in the valley. Nuristan police chief Gen Mohammad Qasim said Afghan forces had rebased themselves in police and government buildings in Barg-e-Matal, and were preparing for a possible counterstrike by militants.

“We were able to recapture Barg-e-Matal completely. Right now, there is no sign of militants, no sign of activity. We are ready, and we have the support of (NATO) air forces,” he said at around nightfall Tuesday. He said 54 militants were killed or wounded in fighting and airstrikes before Tuesday’s operation began, and two police died. Government forces pulled out of the rugged, mountainous region last weekend after hundreds of Taleban fighters swept into the area from nearby Pakistan and fought for almost a week with Afghan troops and local residents, who have a reputation for fierce resistance to outsiders. US troops had established an outpost in Nuristan but abandoned it last October after eight American soldiers were killed in a fierce Taleban attack. Insurgent strength has grown in the region since, prompting fears that Taleban who have come under pressure from US missile strikes and military operations in nearby Pakistan could be looking for a new haven.

The US officers said Taleban fighters — mostly Afghans but also Pakistanis and a few Arabs — are thought to number about 500, spread out over an area of about 15 miles (25 kms) in a forested mountain valley. Villagers reported that a senior Pakistani Taleban commander, Maluana Fazlullah, had been killed in fighting with Afghan troops in Nuristan last week, but officials have not been able to confirm it. Nuristan is very isolated and far removed from the main battlefields in Afghanistan’s south, with a small, scattered population and limited strategic value. But taking back Barg-e-Matal would be an important symbolic victory for the Afghan military, which is often criticized as ineffective. Washington also badly wants to hand more control of security to Afghan troops. “This successful operation by Afghan forces will return governance to Barg-e-Matal,” Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said in a statement Tuesday. “This operation shows the improved planning and operational capabilities of our joint forces in response to serious incidents even in the most remote locations of Afghanistan.”