Taliban say control area after battle with U.S.

By Sayed Salahuddin and Peter Graff

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban militants said on Wednesday they had hoisted their flag in a remote district of Afghanistan where days earlier they had inflicted the deadliest battlefield casualties on U.S. troops in more than a year.

In a separate statement marking the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan that led to their overthrow as the country's rulers, the Taliban said they posed no threat to the West but would continue their fight against foreign forces as long as such troops remained in the country.

In a statement on their website, www.shahamat.org, the hardline Islamists said they had raised their flag in Kamdesh district of eastern Nuristan province near the Pakistan border at a function attended by elders.

U.S. forces denied they had left the area but said they eventually will leave under plans announced before the attack.

Violence in Afghanistan has reached its worst levels in the eight-year-old war, with Taliban insurgents spreading their attacks into previously secure areas.

The latest Taliban statements come at a time when Western officials warn that deserting Afghanistan could mean a return to power for the Taliban, and the country could once again become a safe haven for al Qaeda militants who could use it as a base to plan future attacks on Western countries.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday General Stanley McChrystal's request for thousands more troops has been transferred to U.S. President Barack Obama for review and has started working its way through the military chain of command. McChrystal is the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

It remains unclear how quickly Obama will act on the request for up to 40,000 additional U.S. and NATO troops to go to Afghanistan next year. They would augment the 104,000 currently in place, roughly two-thirds of whom are Americans.