Afghan and U.S. Forces Begin Effort to Reclaim Remote Area From Taliban

KABUL,(NYT) Afghanistan — In an effort to win back a remote district taken by the Taliban, NATO helicopters dropped more than 200 Afghan commandos and a smaller number of American special forces troops into northeastern Nuristan Province overnight Monday, NATO officers close to the operation said Tuesday.

A recent influx of insurgents, primarily Pakistani Taliban, into the district led to battles with Afghan forces during the past week and had raised fears that the insurgents were trying to establish a safe haven there after being forced out of Pakistan by the Pakistani Army.

The district, Barg-e-Matal is high in the mountains nearAfghanistan’s eastern border with Pakistan’s Chitral Province.

Estimates of the number of Taliban now holding the district center range widely, but NATO intelligence officers said it is about 500, that many had crossed the border from Pakistan and that there were a few Arab fighters among them.

The influx of Taliban coincides with a sharp increase in local political rivalries between factions loyal to the governor, who was appointed by President Hamid Karzai, and other powerbrokers who are challenging his authority in the province and seeking his resignation over allegations of corruption.

“There are a number of reasons this is happening now,” said one coalition officer close to the operations. “What’s going on in Kabul with the peace negotiations, it could be the time of year, the fighting season, and you know what’s going on in Nuristan with all the factions vying for power there."

The Afghan security forces requested help from the Americans to reclaim the district from the Taliban, however, NATO military leaders were reluctant to become involved.

The is the second time that they have been drawn into the area, which is geographically difficult to defend and where there are so few people living that it is hard to justify losing troops to secure it and using the resources and assets that it takes to hold it.

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the American commander here, has emphasized protecting population centers and not trying to take on the insurgents in every far-flung hill and valley.

When American troops went to Barg-e-Matal the first time, last summer, also at the request of the Afghan government, four American troops died in the district and five others in a nearby area.

This time, officers involved in the operation said that the heavy lifting would be done by the Afghans.

Monday night’s operation follows bombing late Sunday on a mountain cave complex, which served as “the enemy’s command and control nodes,” said one of the officers close to the operation.