A massive US military operation aimed at driving the Taliban out of southern Afghanistan and winning the trust of locals swung into action yesterday.
Thousands of US marines poured from helicopters and armoured vehicles into villages in Helmand in the first major operation under President Barack Obama’s strategy to stabilise the country.
Helmand is a Taliban stronghold and the world’s largest opium poppy-producing area. Most of Britain’s service personnel in Afghanistan are stationed in Helmand.
The goal for the Americans is to clear insurgents from the hotly-contested region before Afghanistan’s presidential election on August 20.
The marines did not suffer any serious casualties initially and saw only sporadic resistance, a spokesman said.
“The enemy has chosen to withdraw rather than engage for the most part.”
Officials described the offensive – “Khanjar” or “Strike of the Sword” – as the largest and fastest-moving of the war’s new phase and the biggest marine offensive since Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.
It involves 4,000 newly-arrived marines plus 650 Afghan forces. British forces last week led similar, but smaller, missions to clear out insurgents in Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar.
“Where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces,” Marine Corps General Larry Nicholson said.
Pakistan said it had moved troops from elsewhere on its side of the Afghan border to the stretch opposite Helmand to stop any militants from fleeing the offensive. The concern is that increased operations in southern Afghanistan could push insurgents across the border.
Once on the ground, the troops will meet with local leaders, hear their needs and act on them, a Marines spokesman said. “We do not want people of Helmand province to see us as an enemy. We want to protect them from the enemy,” he said.
Thousands of British forces, fighting under Nato command, have been in Helmand since 2006 with broadly the same strategy, but security has deteriorated. They have met with stronger resistance than initially expected against Taliban funded by the vast opium and heroin trade.
Limited numbers of American forces have been operating in Helmand for some time, including around the town of Now Zad.
Senior British officers acknowledge UK forces are stretched in Helmand but say they are not being “bailed out” by the Americans. They point out the new US troops have moved into remoter parts of Helmand, while the British retain responsibility for the densely-populated central and eastern areas.
An American soldier has been captured by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan. The soldier was not connected with yesterday’s massive operation in the south.