The Battle of Musa Qala was a military action in Helmand Province,
southern Afghanistan, launched by the Afghan National Army and the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) against the Taliban on 7
December 2007. After three days of intense fighting, the Taliban
retreated into the mountains on 10 December. Musa Qala was officially
reported captured on 12 December, with Afghan Army troops pushing into
the town centre. Senior ISAF officers, including US general Dan K.
McNeill, the overall ISAF commander, agreed to the assault on 17
November 2007. It followed more than nine months of Taliban occupation
of the town, the largest the insurgents controlled at the time of the
battle. ISAF forces had previously occupied the town, until a
controversial withdrawal in late 2006. It was the first battle in the
war in Afghanistan in which Afghan army units were the principal
fighting force. Statements from the British Ministry of Defence (MOD)
emphasised that the operation was Afghan-led, although the ability of
Afghan units to function without NATO control was questioned during the
battle. Military engagement over Musa Qala is part of a wider conflict
between coalition forces and the Taliban in Helmand. Both before and
after the battle, related fighting was reported across a larger area,
particularly in Sangin district to the south of Musa Qala.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Musa_Qala>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1600:
The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina exploded in the most violent
eruption in the recorded history of South America.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huaynaputina>
1884:
More than sixty tornadoes struck across the Southern United States,
believed to be among the largest and most widespread tornado outbreaks
in American history.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_tornado_outbreak>
1910:
The football stadium Old Trafford in Greater Manchester, England,
hosted its first match between Manchester United and Liverpool.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Trafford>
1942:
World War II: In the largest attacks mounted by a foreign power against
Australia, more than 240 bombers and fighters of the Imperial Japanese
Navy bombed Darwin, Northern Territory.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Darwin>
1986:
The first module of the Soviet space station Mir was launched,
establishing the first long-term research station in space.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brouhaha (n):
A stir: a fuss or uproar
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brouhaha>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
People have such terrible assumptions about ghosts — you know, phantoms
that haunt you, that make you scared, that turn the house upside down.
Yin people are not in our living presence but are around, and kind of
guide you to insights. Like in Las Vegas when the bells go off, telling
you you've hit the jackpot. Yin people ring the bells, saying, "Pay
attention." And you say, "Oh, I see now." Yet I'm a fairly skeptical
person. I'm educated, I'm reasonably sane, and I know that this subject
is fodder for ridicule. ... To write the book, I had to put that aside.
As with any book. I go through the anxiety, "What will people think of
me for writing something like this?" But ultimately, I have to write
what I have to write about, including the question of life continuing
beyond our ordinary senses.
--Amy Tan
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Amy_Tan>