US forces have launched a major military operation in southern Afghanistan in the first big push to drive the Taliban out of a stronghold since Barack Obama became US president.
Up to 4,000 marines, backed by Nato aircraft and a 650-strong Afghan force, are moving into towns in Helmand province, where the Taliban has been intensifying its challenge to the Kabul government and allied forces.
Pentagon officials say the plan - said to be the largest US marine offensive since Vietnam - is not just to inflict casualties against the enemy, but to dig in and hold on to territory.
"We're gonna go there and go to the far reaches where the Taliban is not looking for us, where they're not expecting a fight, where they're not sitting in prepared defensive positions and that's gonna keep them off-balance," spokesman Captain Zachary Martin said.
Helmand province is one of the Taliban's main heartlands in southern Afghanistan and produces the largest share of the country's opium crop, which supplies about 90 per cent of the world's heroin.
'Loss of support'
Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Kabul, said a similar offensive had been attempted in the same region in April last year, but US and UK troops pulled out afterwards and the Taliban moved back.
She said this time the "US forces say they will stay there and train local forces until they can take over".
US launches major Afghan assault
US forces have launched a major military operation in southern Afghanistan in the first big push to drive the Taliban out of a stronghold since Barack Obama became US president.
Up to 4,000 marines, backed by Nato aircraft and a 650-strong Afghan force, are moving into towns in Helmand province, where the Taliban has been intensifying its challenge to the Kabul government and allied forces.
Pentagon officials say the plan - said to be the largest US marine offensive since Vietnam - is not just to inflict casualties against the enemy, but to dig in and hold on to territory.
"We're gonna go there and go to the far reaches where the Taliban is not looking for us, where they're not expecting a fight, where they're not sitting in prepared defensive positions and that's gonna keep them off-balance," spokesman Captain Zachary Martin said.
Helmand province is one of the Taliban's main heartlands in southern Afghanistan and produces the largest share of the country's opium crop, which supplies about 90 per cent of the world's heroin.
'Loss of support'
Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Kabul, said a similar offensive had been attempted in the same region in April last year, but US and UK troops pulled out afterwards and the Taliban moved back.
She said this time the "US forces say they will stay there and train local forces until they can take over".
Posts
