Britain ‘pleased’ with progress in Afghan operation
NATO commanders are "very pleased" with the start of a major operation focusing on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in southern Afghanistan, a British military spokesman said on Saturday.
British troops had secured their "key" objectives but thousands of US troops supported by Afghan soldiers were continuing their attack on Marjah and surrounding areas, Major General Gordon Messenger told journalists in London.
Overall, NATO commanders were "very pleased with how it has gone", he said.
"The key objective has been secured," he said, explaining that the main aims for British troops were to secure the main population centres and installations such as police stations in the the Chah-e Anjir Triangle northeast of Marjah.
There had been some "sporadic fighting", but the Taliban appeared to be "confused and disjointed" and "have not been able to put up a coherent response", Messenger told the briefing.
He said that while he personally had been briefed by British commanders, their US counterparts were also satisfied with the start of the operation.
Operation Mushtarak ("together" in Dari), as the assault involving a total of 15,000 troops is known, aims to clear the area of Taliban and re-establish Afghan sovereignty and civil services.
US, British and Afghan troops along with Danish and Estonian soldiers are attacking Marjah in the central Helmand River valley and surrounding towns.
The attack was supported by the "full array" of NATO aircraft, but bombing was being kept to a minimum, Messenger said.
More than 1,000 British troops were involved in their part of the operation focusing on the Chah-e Anjir Triangle, said Messenger, the chief of the defence staff's strategic communications officer.
"Low numbers" of insurgents were killed during the assault, he added, although he was unable to confirm whether any British soldiers had died.
Messenger said troops had faced sniper fire and IEDs, or improvised explosive devices -- the roadside bombs which the Taliban uses against NATO forces - had been found.
Despite reports that local residents had fled the area ahead of the assault, "significant numbers" of people remained, the spokesman said.
He stressed that while the initial stage of the attacks had gone well, the hard part of the operation would be the work to secure the area and win over the local population.
"There's no complacency -- everyone understands this is the easy bit. The hard bit is what comes next in reassuring the public.
"This is all about winning the allegiance of the population. The allegiance is not won in a day it must be won over time. It cannot be forced."
Link to this page
