A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said the insurgents made a strategic decision to flee Musa Qala to avoid further destruction to the town. “Because of the massive bombings this morning, the Taliban didn’t want to cause more casualties, so this afternoon all the Taliban left Musa Qala,” Ahmadi told The Associated Press by satellite phone. A resident of Musa Qala, Haji Mohammad Rauf, said he saw Taliban fighters leave the town in trucks and motorbikes around noon. Two hours later, hundreds of Afghan soldiers streamed into town and establish security checkpoints, he said. “I was standing on my roof and saw hundreds of Afghan soldiers drive into town,” Rauf said. “All the shops are closed and families are staying inside their homes.”