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US, Afghan forces attack Taliban stronghold

13 February 2010 12:30 (UTC +04:00)

Kabul-APA. U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers spearheading the ground assault reached the outer rim of the Taliban-held town Saturday, as a major offensive began to break the extremists’ grip over a wide area of their southern heartland, Associated Press reported.

Punching their way through a line of insurgent defenses that included mines and homemade bombs, the ground forces reached the main canal that marks the northern entrance to Marjah.

Five Taliban fighters have been killed and eight arrested since the offensive began overnight, said Helmand government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi. He said troops had recovered the bodies of the dead militants.

The long-awaited assault on Marjah is the biggest offensive since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and is a major test of a new NATO strategy focused on protecting civilians. The attack is also the first major combat operation since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 U.S. reinforcements here in December to try to turn the tide of the war.

The troops’ advance into Marjah was slowed during the morning as they carefully picked their way through poppy fields lined with homemade explosives and other land mines. Outbursts of sporadic-but-intense gunfire rang out throughout the morning as insurgents and U.S. forces exchanged fire.

The ground assault followed many hours after an initial wave of helicopters carrying hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan troops swooped into town under the cover of darkness early Saturday. Cobra helicopters fired Hellfire missiles at tunnels, bunkers and other defensive positions.

Marine commanders had said they expected between 400 to 1,000 insurgents â€” including more than 100 foreign fighters â€” to be holed up in Marjah, a town of 80,000 people in Helmand province. Marjah, located 360 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul, is the biggest southern town under Taliban control and the linchpin of the militants’ logistical and opium-smuggling network.

The operation, codenamed "Moshtarak," or Together, was described as the biggest joint operation of the Afghan war. Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, said 15,000 troops were involved, including some 7,500 troops fighting in Marjah.

Still, many people fled anyway for the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, 20 miles (30 kilometers) to the northeast. They told journalists they had to leave quickly and secretly, slipping out of town when Taliban commanders weren’t watching.

Provincial spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said about 450 families â€” an estimated 2,700 people â€” had already sought refuge in Lashkar Gah. Most moved in with relatives, but more than 100 were being sheltered by the government, he said.