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HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan: US Marines launched a massive offensive into the Taliban heartlands of southern Afghanistan early Thursday as President Barack Obama's new war plan swung into action.
Operation Khanjar (Strike of the Sword) involved nearly 4,000 US forces as well as 650 Afghan police and soldiers, the Marine Expeditionary Brigade said, announcing the pre-dawn launch of the drive in southern Helmand province.
Deploying about 50 aircraft, the air and land assault would push troops into insurgent strongholds in what officers on the ground said was the biggest offensive airlift by the Marines since Vietnam.
"What makes Operation Khanjar different from those that have occurred before is the massive size of the force introduced, the speed at which it will insert," Brigadier General Larry Nicholson said in a Marine statement.
It would also see the troops remain in place "and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces," said Nicholson, MEB commanding general in Afghanistan.
It was the Marines first major operation since they deployed over the past few months to reinforce the international effort against the Taliban, who are behind a wave of attacks that is peaking this year and control several areas.
The troops were to push south down the Helmand River valley, deep into insurgent-held areas where international forces have failed to establish a presence despite ousting the Taliban from power in 2001.
Military commanders said Operation Khanjar would convince local people that the Afghan security forces -- backed by international troops -- offered them a better long-term future than the Islamist hardliners.
"This is a big, risky plan," Nicholson told his men at a briefing at Camp Leatherneck before the battle.
"It involves great risks and amazing opportunities. These are days of immense change for Helmand province. We're going down there, and we're going to stay -- that's what is different this time."
Reflecting the United States' new strategy in Afghanistan, he stressed that the security needs of Helmand's residents came before killing members of the Taliban.
"One of the most critical things is to tell people why we're there, and we are going to have a limited opportunity to gain their trust," Nicholson said. "A lot of tea is going to be drunk."
The offensive, which is set to last 36 hours in its first highly aggressive phase, would also bring security to the Helmand valley ahead of elections on August 20, the general said at the briefing last week.
"This will set conditions for the elections in the river valley," he told commanders as well as reporters embedded with the Marines. "Our actions will allow voter registration in areas where there has been none."
Key targets of the assault include the districts of Garmsir and Nawa, and a large curve in the river to the south that the military refers to as the "fishhook."
The area towards the southern border with Pakistan, where many of the insurgents are said to take refuge, is a central stronghold of the Islamist insurgency and the opium trade that funds it.
Officers walking through the battle plan on a large floor map of central and south Helmand said they expected to find 300-500 Taliban fighters in Nawa district.
They also spoke of the key role that would be played by teams clearing roads of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Unmanned aerial surveillance would be used, they said, while loudspeakers would to keep local people informed.
- AFP/yb
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