Afghan and NATO troops kicked off a major anti-Taliban offensive in southern Afghanistan, as 28 people including a British soldier were killed in a new wave of attacks. Operation Medusa was launched in Panjwayi district of southern Kandahar province -- the spiritual and symbolic heartland of the Taliban movement -- after residents had been warned for days to leave the area, officials said.It involved "hundreds" of NATO troops and a similar number of Afghan police and army soldiers, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said. ISAF only deployed to southern Afghanistan a month ago and this operation is its biggest against the insurgents.
Panjwayi, about 35 kilometres (20 miles) west of Kandahar city, has seen months of intense fighting, with ISAF officials saying it has one of the biggest concentrations of Taliban in southern Afghanistan. Seasoned Taliban fighters in the area had been "hardening their defence positions and sandbagging buildings and bringing in ammunition," spokesman Major Scott Lundy said. "We have had indications that these Taliban fighters are of the hardcore variety as opposed to the soldiers-for-a-day we see sometimes," he told AFP.
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ISAF and Afghan officials had urged residents through the local media and meetings with area elders to leave before the offensive started, he said. "There have also been at least three leaflet drops that essentially tell Taliban fighters and their supporters to put down their arms and surrender," he said.