KABUL, 7 March 2007 — NATO troops along with Afghan forces yesterday launched their biggest ever offensive, involving up to 5,500 troops, to drive Taleban militants out of the southern province of Helmand, the NATO force said. The launch of “Operation Achilles” comes after Western officials urged a stiff response to Taleban threats of a spring offensive featuring a wave of suicide bombings.
One NATO soldier was killed in combat in southern Afghanistan yesterday but the International Security Assistance Force did not say if it was linked to the new military push. “This is the largest multinational combined ANSF (Afghan security force) and ISAF operation launched to date and it signifies the beginning of a planned offensive to bring security to northern Helmand,” Maj. Gen. Ton van Loon, ISAF’s southern commander, said in a statement.
At its peak it would involve more than 4,500 NATO troops and nearly 1,000 Afghan security force (ANSF) personnel, he said. The offensive in Helmand, where thousands of mainly British troops have been fighting frequent battles against the Taleban, was launched at the request of the Afghan government, he said.
It would focus on “improving security in areas where Taleban extremists, narco-traffickers and other elements are trying to destabilize the government of Afghanistan,” the statement said.
Western and Afghan officials say illegal drug income was fueling the Taleban insurgency — especially in Helmand, which is Afghanistan’s top opium-producing area. NATO forces would also try to “empower village elders to take charge of their communities as they have been doing so in other parts of southern Afghanistan, without the influence of Taleban extremists,” the statement said.
A NATO spokesman said the push was aimed at retaking the small town of Musa Qala, which was occupied by insurgents a month ago and is one of several districts in Helmand, which are out of government control.
Meanwhile in the eastern city of Jalalabad, around 1,000 student protesters demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces after the killing of nearly 20 civilians in two incidents at the weekend. Afghan officials say 10 civilians were shot dead when US-led coalition troops opened fire after a suicide car bombing on a convoy just outside the city on Sunday. The coalition said eight people died.
The coalition also admitted to civilian casualties in a bombing raid on Sunday in Kapisa province, north of Kabul, saying it accepted a government death toll of nine civilians and three insurgents.
