Afghans Recapture Barg-e-Matal

Thanks to some US operational mobility, Afghan troops have recaptured a district they had previously abandoned.

U.S. helicopters flew Afghan troops into a remote district overrun by the Taliban 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 Taliban 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 U.S. helicopters and a handful of American advisers, U.S. 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 still continuing and was expected to last a few days. Taliban fighters were believed to have left the town and may have taken positions elsewhere in the valley.

By: Brant