British troops pulled out of a troubled southern Afghanistan district today after reaching an agreement with tribal elders, while fighting killed 44 suspected Taliban militants across the country, officials said.
NATO, meanwhile, announced it was launching a new countrywide military operation with Afghan forces to keep pressure on the Taliban through the fall and winter, and to pave the way for long-promised development after the harshest fighting in five years.
Mark Laity, a NATO spokesman in Kabul, said the decision to withdraw the British troops from Helmand province's Musa Qala district follows an agreement with tribal elders and the provincial governor, and was supported by President Hamid Karzai.
"There has not been any contact with the Taliban, and they are not involved in this," Laity said.
He said the troops were leaving because it had been 35 days since the last major clash. They would leave Afghan security forces in charge.
Musa Qala has been one of the most volatile regions of Helmand, where about 4,000 British troops who deployed to the province in the spring have met with stiffer-than-expected resistance from resurgent Taliban militants.
Gen. David Richards, the commander of the 32,000 strong NATO-led force in Afghanistan, said the redeployment reflected success in its operation, although he left open the possibility the troops could return.