The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Kabul

Afghan and international forces are engaged in a massive operation to retake the strategically important town of Musa Qala which has been held by the Taliban for 10 months, NATO said Saturday.

Troops were dropped on the outskirts late Friday and overnight by a fleet of helicopters amid efforts to oust the rebels. The town, in Afghanistan's opium-producing heartland in the southern province of Helmand, was surrounded and air strikes were launched, Afghan defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi told AFP Friday.