Villagers Flee as US Preps for Huge Helmand Battle

(Feb. 9) – U.S. Marines and their NATO allies are gearing up for a major assault on Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan, in what could be the largest counterinsurgency operation there since the war began in late 2001.

Tens of thousands of Afghan, American and NATO troops are taking part in Operation Mushtarak, which means "together" in the Dari language, in a bid to clear Taliban fighters from the town of Marjah in Helmand province.

NATO considers Marjah the biggest community in southern Afghanistan that's still under insurgent control. The town, a patchwork of desert canals and poppy fields, is home to more than 80,000 people. It's also the thriving capital of the narcotics trade in Helmand, where half of the world's opium is grown and produced. It's an illegal business that nevertheless provides a livelihood for thousands of Marjah's residents.

The U.S. hopes that by ousting the Taliban and luring residents away from the drug trade, it can make Marjah a turning point for the entire eight-year war.

Hundreds of villagers are streaming out of the area after word spread of the coming offensive. NATO dropped leaflets in Marjah over the weekend, warning civilians to take cover. They also named several alleged Taliban commanders and told fighters to leave the area or be killed, The Associated Press reported.

One fleeing resident, Gul Muhammed, told Agence France-Presse why he left town. "There are Taliban all over the place and foreign troops around Marjah," he said. "So I was scared that we might get hurt."

Another man, Mohammad Hakim, was heading to the regional capital Lashkar Gah with his wife, nine sons, four daughters and grandchildren. "Everybody is worried that they'll get caught in the middle when this operation starts," he told the AP. "I can stay for one or two weeks," he said. "But if I have to leave my agriculture land for months and months, then how will I feed my family?"

NATO's civilian representative, Mark Sedwill, told reporters in Kabul today that "sufficient" plans are in place to feed and house any civilians who flee ahead of the violence. "We are confident there are sufficient resources there to accommodate and feed anybody who chooses to leave the area."

"The message to the people of the area is of course, keep your heads down, stay inside when the operation is going ahead," Sedwill said in comments carried by several news agencies.

"We very much hope that the military phase of this operation will go ahead swiftly and with as little incident as possible. This of course very much depends on the conduct of those people who are in Marjah at the moment, their choices about whether to resist or to lay down their weapons," he said.

The Marjah operation is the first big push into southern Afghanistan since President Barack Obama announced a new surge of 30,000 additional American troops into the country. It's seen as critical to the ground commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal's strategy of meshing military operations with development, in an effort to extend the Afghan government's control over former Taliban strongholds.

`When the government re-establishes security, [the people of Marjah] will have choices...We're trying to make this not a military operation only, but a civilian and military operation," McChrystal told reporters over the weekend.

A British general commanding part of the operation, Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, told the BBC that the Marjah offensive will be the first big test of Obama's strategy in Afghanistan. For the first time, Afghan forces are taking a lead role in planning the mission, he said. Afghan police will move in to provide support after the initial military operations, Carter added.

Unlike other surprise attacks, the Marjah operation has been publicized by NATO for weeks or even months. One reason is to allow civilians to take cover or flee. Another is to separate hardcore Taliban fighters from those willing to lay down their arms.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has announced a plan, backed by Washington, to award former Taliban fighters with jobs and other incentives if they're willing to disarm. It's a strategy that worked for American commanders in Iraq, where former Sunni insurgents were lured away from violence and back into the country's civic life.

It's unclear how many Taliban fighters will accept Karzai's offer. Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal, who spoke alongside Sedwill today, said he's received indications that some local militants are ready to join the government's reintegration process.

"I'm confident that there are a number of Taliban members who will reconcile with us and who will be under the sovereignty of the Afghan government," Mangal said.

But there are reports of many Taliban elements digging into positions near Marjah, ready to fight. One Taliban operative, Mullah Sharadulldine, told the UK's Independent newspaper that he's "well-prepared to fight any kind of attacks by the infidels." He added that he was in charge of 145 fighters.

"We also have brave international mujahedeen beside us and we have expanded our defensive circles," Sharadulldine said.