LASHKARGAR, Afghanistan — An American general took command of NATO forces in Afghanistan yesterday amid concerns that as the organization faces a spring offensive by the Taliban, British-led efforts to hand control of areas of Helmand province to local tribal leaders may be abandoned.

General Dan McNeill replaced General David Richards, a Briton, as NATO moved to restore order to the key Helmand town of Musa Qala, which was seized by the Taliban on Friday.

The commander of the Taliban force that seized Musa Qala, Mullah Ghafoor, was reported to have been killed yesterday in what NATO described as a “precision airstrike.” Other Taliban fighters appeared to be holding the town last night, and a NATO spokesman said he has no reports of NATO troops nearby.

General McNeill was greeted by a threat from a senior Taliban commander of increased suicide attacks, which he said were supported by 95% of the population.

“We have made 80% preparations to fight American and foreign forces, and we are about to start war,” Mullah Hayatullah Khan, 35, told Reuters at a secret base in the south.

General McNeill is one of several senior American officials reported to be skeptical about the Musa Qala peace model, and analysts say he is likely to take a more aggressive approach to the Taliban problem. America doubled its combat forces in Afghanistan to 33,000 ahead of General McNeill’s takeover by extending tours of duty by up to four months for some troops.

Last night, as refugees streamed into the provincial capital of Lashkargar from Musa Qala, three similar peace deals, to hand control in other towns to tribal elders, appeared to be in jeopardy.

The Afghan foreign minister, Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, criticized the Musa Qala deal. He told reporters that he was “happy this suspicious agreement is broken.”

“We cannot have fundamentalist and terrorist reserves and islands. This is not in the interest of establishing a strong and powerful government.”

But refugees said there was widespread anger in the town toward the Taliban for ending the deal. “Ninety percent of the people in Musa Qala were very happy with this peace agreement,” a shopkeeper, Haji Azrat, 50, said. “Many people dislike the Taliban for what they did.”

Refugees said Musa Qala, which has a usual population of around 10,000, was now almost entirely empty, except for several hundred Taliban fighters who told the townspeople that they are determined to stay and fight.

NATO officials said Mullah Ghafoor, one of three senior Taliban commanders operating in the Musa Qala area, was in a car overseeing the preparation of defensive positions outside the town when he was killed, just hours before the new NATO general took command.