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| Afghanistan |
| NATO begins new offensive in southern Afghanistan |
| 2007-04-30 |
| SANGIN VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN — More than 2,000 NATO and Afghan troops began an operation before dawn Monday to drive Taliban fighters from another swath of their opium-producing heartland in southern Afghanistan. The British-led Operation Silicon is the latest attempt to extend the shaky control of President Hamid Karzai's government in Helmand province, officials said. Military officials said the effort involved some 1,100 British troops, 600 U.S. soldiers and more from Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark and Estonia. More than 1,000 Afghan government troops also were taking part. The troops are targeting Helmand's Sangin Valley, an area near Afghanistan's strategic ring road that has “for too long been under the semi-control of the Taliban,” said Lt.-Col. Stuart Carver, a British commander. “It is all part of a longer-term plan to restore the whole of Helmand to government control,” Col. Carver said. “You have to do it a piece at a time.” |
| Posted by:Steve |