Afghanistan: A US-led force of 11,000 troops launches the biggest anti-Taliban offensive in Afghanistan since 2001 today, concentrating its firepower in an area under British control.
British, American, Canadian and Afghan troops will sweep across insurgent strongholds in four southern provinces rocked by a wave of Taliban violence in recent months, US officials said.
The "Operation Mountain Thrust" offensive aims to cripple the strengthening insurgency before Nato takes command of southern Afghanistan next month.
The heaviest combat is expected in the lawless mountains spanning western Uruzgan province and northeastern Helmand, where 3,300 British troops are deploying and Britain suffered its first combat fatality last weekend. Less intensive operations will target pockets of Kandahar and Zabul provinces.
US military officials announcing the operation said reconstruction activities would follow in its wake. "This is not just about killing or capturing extremists," US spokesman Tom Collins said in Kabul.
"We are going to go into these areas, take out the security threat and establish conditions where government forces, government institutions [ and] humanitarian organisations can move in and begin the real work."
Dilbar Jan Arman, the governor of Zabul, one of the four targeted provinces, said US forces and local leaders had been planning the operation for the past two months. "We will search for the Taliban wherever they are. We seek to disrupt their underground networks."
A dramatic surge in fighting since mid-May has killed about 550 people, according to US and Afghan military figures. The Taliban has suffered the vast majority of casualties under US and British bombs; at least nine coalition soldiers have also died. Information about civilian deaths is difficult to obtain due to the inaccessibility of battle sites, but local human rights groups have reported dozens of casualties. - (Guardian service)