Marja offensive a test for NATO's ability in uprooting Taliban

by Abdul Haleem

KABUL, Feb. 13, 2010 (Xinhua) --

The much-awaited and the ever- biggest offensive since the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001 was launched against Taliban-controlled Marja district of southern Helmand province Saturday amid Taliban vow to defend tooth and nail.

Regarded as the breeding center of militancy and main stronghold of Taliban fighters in south Afghanistan, the strategically important Marja district enables Taliban to influence the neighboring Nawa, Nad Ali, Babaji districts as well as the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

Aimed at rooting out the Taliban insurgents, ensuring lasting peace, brining good governance and accelerating reconstruction process, the operation dubbed "Mushtarak" which means together, according to officials, began with the involvement of some 15,000 Afghan and the NATO-led troops including U.S. Marines and has been going on smoothly. Since kicking off the operation, according to Afghan top commander in southern region General Shir Mohammad Zazai, 20 militants have been killed and 11 others arrested.

Furthermore, Afghan Defense Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak told newsmen Saturday that the troops had easily reached the bazaar of Marja and had consolidated their positions in many areas without facing a major resistance.

On the other hand, Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi rejected the claim, saying to media via cellular phone from unknown location that only two militants have been killed and four others sustained injuries.

He also stressed that militants by carrying out roadside bombings have inflicted heavy casualties to Afghan and NATO troops in Marja district, a claim denied by Afghan Defense General Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak.

In talks with media, Wardak asserted that only few soldiers sustained injuries since the beginning of the operation. The hardcore fighters in attempt to desperate and disperse the troops, retaliated the advancing NATO-led forces in the neighboring Kandahar by carrying out a suicide blast, killing one American soldier and injuring three others, according to local army officer captain Abdul Rahman.

But Yusuf Ahmadi put the number of casualties over a dozen soldiers, stressing all those killed in the suicide attack were Americans.

However, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF) in a statement confirmed that "three ISAF service members from the United States died following an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) strike in southern Afghanistan today."

This is not the first time that the NATO-led forces launch such operation against Taliban militants in south Afghanistan particularly in Helmand province to consolidate government grip. In the past years, the troops had also launched operations against insurgents but failed to ensure lasting peace despite wiping out militants from several areas and hoisting the government flag.

As past experiences have proved, the troops by dislodging militants from Musa Qala and Sangin districts in the past years have failed to bring about viable stability as the militants gradually influenced their presence in rural areas and occasionally target government interests.

The militants who are veteran guerrillas had in the past vacated their trenches ahead of launching operations, apparently this time would follow the same tactic and resume hit-and-run attack when the troops stationed in barracks. Taliban spokesman also said that militants would engage the advancing troops by organizing roadside bombings in Marja district.

Still four districts, Bagran, Washir, Khan Shin and Desho, according to locals, are controlled by Taliban militants in Helmand province.

Recaptured Marja by the troops would demoralize militants in adjoining areas and eventually paves the way for evicting militants and ensuring durable peace in the militancy-ridden southern region. Restoring government control in Marja would also enable authorities to check poppy plantation and its product in Helmand and the neighboring provinces.

Since defending Marja is vital for Taliban in the southern region as well in the war-torn country, the militants, as they vowed to resist in guerrilla tactic and proved as headache for the troops with this perspective, would strike back once the troops secure the area and hand it over to Afghan police.

Afghan, U.S.-led NATO forces launch major offensive against Taliban in Afghanistan

by Abdul Hadi Mayar

KABUL, Feb. 13, 2010 (Xinhua) --

The United States, British and Afghan forces have kicked off a major offensive operation against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, which is liable to prove the biggest battles in the eight-year-long war on terror in the post-Taliban country.

Operation Mushtarak, or Together, in Marjah area of Helmand province is the biggest joint military campaign of the U.S.-led NATO and Afghan forces to uproot the hardcore Taliban fighters from their main bastion in the troubled country.

Helmand, besides the neighboring Kandahar province, has all along served as the breeding ground and nesting place for the Taliban insurgents ever since their forcible ejection from power in 2001.

The province has seen three major operations by the coalition and the Afghan forces last year. While the British forces carried out operation Panther's Claw, their American counterpart conducted Strike of the Sword operation to clear major parts of the province from the Taliban.

For their part, the Afghan National Army (ANA) also carried out operation Atal (Champion) in the same province. While the Afghan government and the coalition forces claimed victory in the operations, the Taliban discredited their gains and later announced launching of their own operation, Iron Net in the province.

In the last three operations in the area, the Taliban had avoided direct battlefield conflict, simply melting away and later resorting to hit-and-run strikes and IED (improvised explosive device) attacks against military vehicles and personnel of the coalition forces.

This time round, a couple of skirmishes have already taken place when the coalition forces tried to block the exit points of Marjah valley to check Taliban's flight from the battle zone.

Taliban militants have also fired rockets on advance parties of the troops at different places. A large number of Marjah's 1,30, 000 population - 85,000 inside Marjah town and an estimated 45,000 more in outlying parts of the district - have already started to leave the area for safer places in Lashkar Gah, capital city of the Helmand province, and other parts of Nad Ali district.

The coalition forces are trying to muster support of the local population, convincing them of the fairness of their objective to restore order in the area and put the local population on path to economic prosperity. They also want to avoid civilian casualties, which, in the past, has earned the wrath of the local populations as well as the Kabul administration.

Over 1,000 Taliban fighters are thought to be still locked in pockets of Marjah town and the suburban hamlets as over 4,000 of the 9,000 plus British forces, besides an even larger number of U. S. Marines and ANA soldiers, are poised to take part in the operation.

For the first time in Afghanistan, the coalition forces are also using landmine breacher vehicles and IED buster machines, which they expect to play major role in disorienting the enemy fighters.

Roadside bombs and landmines have hitherto been the major weapons available to the Taliban fighters, through which they have killed a large number of U.S. and British forces and checked their movement in larger swathes of southern Afghanistan.

Operation Mushtarak is projected to be similar to the one the U. S. forces had carried out in Faluja province of Iraq in 2004, in which they had to clear Fluja city street by street.

While contemplating political and economic moves to woo the moderate Taliban who do not have links with the al-Qaida, the new U.S. strategy foresees rather tougher actions against their hardcore fighters to pave the way for handing over the security responsibility to the Afghan army and police before starting withdrawal in July 2011.

For the purpose, 30,000 additional U.S. and several thousand NATO forces are to be sent to the country, particularly to southern Afghanistan.

A large number of these fresh forces will take part in the Marjah offensive. But as to what the Taliban hide in their strategy to reverse the advance or to what extent they are able to resist the mighty U.S.-NATO war machine remain to be seen in the weeks to come.