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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060613/afghanistan_template_060614/20060614?hub=TopStories
CTV.ca News Staff
More than 11,000 coalition troops in Afghanistan, including around 2,200 Canadians, are preparing to launch the largest offensive ever against the Taliban.
The mission will target a group of insurgents thought to be responsible for a recent rise in militant activity in the volatile southern part of the country.
U.S, British and Canadian soldiers will begin the offensive on Thursday, looking to crack down on Taliban fighters in four provinces.
"The whole objective is to push Taliban insurgents out of the safe havens that they have been enjoying for several years now," CTV's Steve Chao told Canada AM, reporting from Kandahar.
"What essentially has been happening for the past few years is that the Taliban developed quarters up in the rural areas in the mountains. The whole goal of this is to get the coalition troops, involving U.S., British and Canadians troops, up into these mountains to push them out."
In addition to engaging the enemy, however, one of the goals of Operation Mountain Thrust, is to win the support of locals in isolated villages that have rarely seen foreigners, Chao said.
The operation will also involve a reconstruction phase, and will focus on southern Uruzgan and northeastern Helmand, where the coalition forces says most of the insurgents are massed.
Meanwhile, coalition and Afghan forces killed 26 suspected insurgents on Wednesday in fighting in the eastern mountains near the border with Pakistan.
In a separate attack Wednesday, four civilians were killed when their home was hit in a rocket attack by insurgents.
One Afghan police officer was also wounded in Wednesday's fighting.
Recently, insurgent violence has reached its highest level of activity since the former Taliban-led government was dismantled following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"This is not just about killing or capturing extremists," U.S. spokesman Col. Tom Collins told reporters in Kabul on Wednesday.
"We are going to go into these areas, take out the security threat and establish conditions where government forces, government institutions, humanitarian organizations can move into these areas and begin the real work that needs to be done."
The massive force of 11,000 soldiers marks the largest deployment yet for a single mission in Afghanistan.
The task of gaining support and trust among the isolated Afghans may be one of the most difficult yet for the coalition forces, Chao said.
"You have to imagine that this country has been involved in civil war for 30 years. It is one that has been a pawn of several outside countries including Pakistan, the U.S. and the Soviets," Chao told AM.
"There is a great deal of mistrust of any government that seems to be supported by foreign troops, especially here in the south where it is tribal. People are loyal to those that they know and often those they know are the Taliban."
Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, U.S. operational commander in Afghanistan, earlier told The Associated Press that coalition and Afghan troops would attack "Taliban enemy sanctuary or safe haven areas" in Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.
"Right now ... they'll be in one area, they'll move out of that area, they'll conduct an attack in another area, then move back to a safe haven," he told AP last week in an interview at Bagram, the U.S. military headquarters north of Kabul.
"This is our approach to put simultaneous pressure on the enemy's networks, to cause their leaders to make mistakes, and to attack those leaders," Freakley said.
The offensive officially began on May 15 when coalition forces began targeting Taliban hideouts. Since then, about 550 people have died -- mostly militants, according to U.S. and Afghan figures.
At least nine coalition soldiers have been killed in combat operations during that time.
If everything goes according to plan, Thursday will mark the start of the summer-long anti-Taliban campaign.
On Wednesday, U.S. troops constructed sand walls and guard posts around a small forward-operating base that will serve as a support post for the operation.
About 2,300 U.S. conventional and special forces will be involved in the operation, along with 3,300 British troops, 2,200 Canadians, about 3,500 Afghan soldiers and coalition air support, Freakley said.
The offensive has been in the works for about 18 months. It takes place as militant activity experienced a surge in the southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan.
Another offensive, involving 2,500 U.S. and Afghan troops, was launched in mid-April in the eastern Kunar province. That operation is still ongoing, but has entered its reconstruction phase.
The Taliban is thought to be strongest in the south and has been steadily gaining strength and support since the Taliban-led government fell in 2001.
"I think this summer the Taliban is stronger than they've been in years," military spokesman, Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick told AP.
With files from The Associated Press
When did we get more tip of the spear soldiers?
CTV.ca News Staff
More than 11,000 coalition troops in Afghanistan, including around 2,200 Canadians, are preparing to launch the largest offensive ever against the Taliban.
The mission will target a group of insurgents thought to be responsible for a recent rise in militant activity in the volatile southern part of the country.
U.S, British and Canadian soldiers will begin the offensive on Thursday, looking to crack down on Taliban fighters in four provinces.
"The whole objective is to push Taliban insurgents out of the safe havens that they have been enjoying for several years now," CTV's Steve Chao told Canada AM, reporting from Kandahar.
"What essentially has been happening for the past few years is that the Taliban developed quarters up in the rural areas in the mountains. The whole goal of this is to get the coalition troops, involving U.S., British and Canadians troops, up into these mountains to push them out."
In addition to engaging the enemy, however, one of the goals of Operation Mountain Thrust, is to win the support of locals in isolated villages that have rarely seen foreigners, Chao said.
The operation will also involve a reconstruction phase, and will focus on southern Uruzgan and northeastern Helmand, where the coalition forces says most of the insurgents are massed.
Meanwhile, coalition and Afghan forces killed 26 suspected insurgents on Wednesday in fighting in the eastern mountains near the border with Pakistan.
In a separate attack Wednesday, four civilians were killed when their home was hit in a rocket attack by insurgents.
One Afghan police officer was also wounded in Wednesday's fighting.
Recently, insurgent violence has reached its highest level of activity since the former Taliban-led government was dismantled following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"This is not just about killing or capturing extremists," U.S. spokesman Col. Tom Collins told reporters in Kabul on Wednesday.
"We are going to go into these areas, take out the security threat and establish conditions where government forces, government institutions, humanitarian organizations can move into these areas and begin the real work that needs to be done."
The massive force of 11,000 soldiers marks the largest deployment yet for a single mission in Afghanistan.
The task of gaining support and trust among the isolated Afghans may be one of the most difficult yet for the coalition forces, Chao said.
"You have to imagine that this country has been involved in civil war for 30 years. It is one that has been a pawn of several outside countries including Pakistan, the U.S. and the Soviets," Chao told AM.
"There is a great deal of mistrust of any government that seems to be supported by foreign troops, especially here in the south where it is tribal. People are loyal to those that they know and often those they know are the Taliban."
Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, U.S. operational commander in Afghanistan, earlier told The Associated Press that coalition and Afghan troops would attack "Taliban enemy sanctuary or safe haven areas" in Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.
"Right now ... they'll be in one area, they'll move out of that area, they'll conduct an attack in another area, then move back to a safe haven," he told AP last week in an interview at Bagram, the U.S. military headquarters north of Kabul.
"This is our approach to put simultaneous pressure on the enemy's networks, to cause their leaders to make mistakes, and to attack those leaders," Freakley said.
The offensive officially began on May 15 when coalition forces began targeting Taliban hideouts. Since then, about 550 people have died -- mostly militants, according to U.S. and Afghan figures.
At least nine coalition soldiers have been killed in combat operations during that time.
If everything goes according to plan, Thursday will mark the start of the summer-long anti-Taliban campaign.
On Wednesday, U.S. troops constructed sand walls and guard posts around a small forward-operating base that will serve as a support post for the operation.
About 2,300 U.S. conventional and special forces will be involved in the operation, along with 3,300 British troops, 2,200 Canadians, about 3,500 Afghan soldiers and coalition air support, Freakley said.
The offensive has been in the works for about 18 months. It takes place as militant activity experienced a surge in the southern and eastern provinces of Afghanistan.
Another offensive, involving 2,500 U.S. and Afghan troops, was launched in mid-April in the eastern Kunar province. That operation is still ongoing, but has entered its reconstruction phase.
The Taliban is thought to be strongest in the south and has been steadily gaining strength and support since the Taliban-led government fell in 2001.
"I think this summer the Taliban is stronger than they've been in years," military spokesman, Lt. Col. Paul Fitzpatrick told AP.
With files from The Associated Press
When did we get more tip of the spear soldiers?
! (ok so i've been brainwashed by my husband hehehe) 
