KABUL — Taliban fighters claimed Friday that their flag was flying over an eastern Afghan village U.S. forces abandoned after suffering casualties in one of the war’s deadliest battles for American troops.
The withdrawal this week from mountainous Kamdesh, an isolated hamlet near the Pakistan border, was planned well before the intense Oct. 3 attack left a pair of outposts in ruins and eight soldiers from a Fort Carson unit dead.
The NATO-led coalition said the move was part of a new strategy outlined months ago by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, to shut down remote, difficult-to-defend outposts and redirect forces toward larger population areas to protect more civilians.
U.S. Master Sgt. Thomas Clementson said coalition forces destroyed what was left of the two outposts in Kamdesh, at least one of which had suffered severe damage and was largely burned. The action was likely taken to prevent insurgents from using the base.
Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the U.S. bombarded the outpost with airstrikes after leaving, as well as the local police headquarters.
“This means they are not coming back,” Mujahid said. “This is another victory for Taliban. We have control of another district in eastern Afghanistan. Right now Kamdesh is under our control, and the white flag of the Taliban is raised above Kamdesh.”
Provincial police chief Gen. Mohammad Qasim Jangulbagh said the pullout “has had a direct affect on the morale of Afghan forces.”
In a statement Friday, the NATO-led force said allied troops and equipment were moved “to other locations in eastern Afghanistan in preparation for future assignment to more populated areas.”
