Surrendering Musa Qala — the most northerly Nato outpost in Helmand Province — would open up the area to Taleban fighters and insurgents from Pakistan, senior defence sources have cautioned.

They consider that Musa Qala was an “iconic” stronghold that prevented the Taleban from infiltrating towns like Sangin farther south, and are strongly against the plan, leaked yesterday, to abandon it to focus Nato defences on southerly towns.

The warnings were voiced as the Black Watch battalion returned from a seven-month tour of Afghanistan, insisting that there was still a job to do in the Province.

Musa Qala was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the Afghan conflict when it was recaptured by British forces nearly two years ago. The victory was regarded as a major turning point as it was the only urban centre held by the Taleban. It was seized back from the Taleban following Operation Snakebite, a campaign led by 52 Infantry Brigade, based at Edinburgh Castle, together with US and Afghan soldiers, in December 2007. British troops had withdrawn from the town in 2006 after a deal with local tribal elders, but the Taleban moved in, leading the coalition to mount the offensive, involving almost 3,000 troops.

One officer said: “Musa Qala was an icon for all the wrong reasons when it was first abandoned. It was an icon for all the right reasons when it was retaken. Leaving it now would be a massive retrograde step.”

The comments came as Black Watch troops were yesterday reunited with families at Fort George, near Inverness. The soldiers from B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, had been based in Kandahar, where they took part in 21 operations, including, in June, Operation Panther Claw.

Corporal Gary Wilson, 26, dismissed suggestions that British forces could be withdrawn. “I think there is a job and always will be a job out there. The locals need us and the rest of the coalition forces need us out there.”

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