Taliban Militants Overrun Southern Afghan Town – Officials

KABUL (AP)–Taliban militants overran a southern Afghan town where a peace agreement had been negotiated last autumn, roaming through the town center, burning its government compound and threatening elders, officials and a resident said.

A resident of Musa Qala said that 200 to 300 Taliban fighters had overtaken the town, took weapons from the police and destroyed the government center late Thursday.

Col. Tom Collins, a spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said an “unknown number” of militants had apparently entered Musa Qala and that NATO had conflicting reports about the tribal elders temporarily being taken hostage.