His home province of Orozgan, just north of Kandahar, and the only other place where he would have been readily defended, was now under the control of opposition commanders, this resident said.
Now at least 40 villages in Ghazni's Andar district have broken away from the mainstream Taliban, though small-scale shootings still occur at times, according to local commanders and residents.
KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 27 — Many former militia commanders and residents in northern Afghanistan have been hoarding illegal weapons in violation of the country's disarmament laws, giving the excuse that they face a spreading Taliban insurgency from the south that government forces alone are too frail to stop, Afghan and Western officials say.
Captain Feese, the Company A commander, said Huriya residents felt safer without thugs like Mr. Kadhim on the streets.
The remotely piloted aircraft fired four missiles into a compound in the village of Raghzai, near Wana, the capital of South Waziristan, which was being used as a base by the Taliban commander Wali Mohammed, local residents and officials said.
Chief Donald Burns, the Fire Department's operations commander, said the residents would not be allowed back into their buildings until a few hours after the demolition of the four-story building at 14 Second Avenue.
According to an earlier description of the military action on Wednesday given by a Taliban commander and local residents, the attack was aimed at three houses in the village of Jalal Khel, also known locally as Moosa Nika, in the Angoor Adda area of South Waziristan, near a stronghold of the Taliban and Al Qaeda and less than a mile from the border with Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Tim Grattan, the battalion commander, said the local residents' ambivalence reflected fears of what could happen to anyone who sided with the Marines, an apprehension stoked by past operations that sent troops in only for short periods.
Commander Steve Rodhouse revealed that residents in the capital had raised concerns with the Met over policing strategy after the deaths of three men following contact with officers during the past 12 days.
Rockets were launched from near the town's elementary school, and from many of its fields, Israeli commanders and several residents said.
