By Terry Friel KABUL, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The NATO commander in Afghanistan vowed on Saturday to kick the Taliban out of a southern town and reinstate tribal elders. Taliban fighters overran Musa Qala in the drug heartland of Helmand province on Thursday night, seizing the district administration office and police headquarters. When NATO troops ran into bloodier than expected fighting in southern Afghanistan late last year, British commanders had struck a deal with tribal elders in the town to withdraw if the Taliban were also kept out. British General David Richards said locals had forcibly disarmed the Taliban, who have now returned seeking revenge. "What is most important to me, and I've spoken to President (Hamid) Karzai about this, is that we look after those very brave people who had the courage to stand up to some pretty vicious hoods that now are intimidating them," Richards said. "We will put the tribal elders back in control of Musa Qala and we will kick the Taliban out and defeat them," Richards said at the headquarters of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul. The guerrillas routinely take towns and villages at night or for a few days but have not been able to hold their ground. Tribal loyalties are paramount in Afghanistan. BLOODY YEAR Richards has led operations here for nine months, possibly the toughest period since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, and hands the ISAF force over to U.S. general Dan McNeill on Sunday. More than 4,000 people, a quarter of them civilians, died in fighting last year and U.S. commanders and political leaders say the Islamists will launch a spring offensive when the snows melt within the next few months. The Musa Qala peace deal was strongly criticised by some U.S. commanders and other allies. Richard commands about 33,000 ISAF troops, including thousands of U.S. soldiers. A U.S.-led coalition has more than 10,000 troops in the country under a separate command. "By their actions, the Taliban have ended over four months of peace in Musa Qala which, until now, had seen a return to normality with reconstruction and development getting underway," ISAF said in a statement. "It is very clear that the Taliban are acting against the wishes of the people of Musa Qala." ISAF denied Taliban charges it had breached the Musa Qala peace deal with nearby air strikes. It said the raids were outside the area covered by the agreement.
