The US army says it has launched a major offensive against the Taliban in south Afghanistan's Helmand province.The US military says about 4,000 marines as well as 650 Afghan troops are involved, supported by Nato planes. Brig Gen Larry Nicholson said the operation was different from previous ones because of the "massive size of the force" and its speed. A Taliban spokesman said they would resist in various ways and that there would be no permanent US victory. Qari Yosuf Ahmadi added that "a large number" of Taliban were in the area. "I cannot accept the fact that 4,000 US troops have taken part in this operation," he said, quoted by the Afghan AIP news agency. "I consider it a part of a psychological war, but if 4,000 US troops really are taking part in the operation, they will not have any permanent victory."
The US army says it has launched a major offensive against the Taliban in south Afghanistan's Helmand province.
The US military says about 4,000 marines as well as 650 Afghan troops are involved, supported by Nato planes.
Brig Gen Larry Nicholson said the operation was different from previous ones because of the "massive size of the force" and its speed.
A Taliban spokesman said they would resist in various ways and that there would be no permanent US victory.
Qari Yosuf Ahmadi added that "a large number" of Taliban were in the area.
"I cannot accept the fact that 4,000 US troops have taken part in this operation," he said, quoted by the Afghan AIP news agency.
"I consider it a part of a psychological war, but if 4,000 US troops really are taking part in the operation, they will not have any permanent victory."
Germany's military deployment in Afghanistan has split public opinion back home. SPIEGEL talks to former German Defense Minister Peter Struck and Jürgen Todenhöfer, a prominent critic of the war, about civilian victims of American bombing attacks, negotiations with the Taliban and the role of al-Qaida. SPIEGEL: Mr. Struck, is Germany safer today, after seven years of having the German army, the Bundeswehr, in Afghanistan? Struck: Of course. Under the Taliban regime, the threat of terrorism coming from Afghanistan was much greater for us in Europe and in Germany. We will still have to defend our security in the Hindu Kush region. This statement will continue to be true until Afghanistan no longer poses a threat in terms of terrorism.
Germany's military deployment in Afghanistan has split public opinion back home. SPIEGEL talks to former German Defense Minister Peter Struck and Jürgen Todenhöfer, a prominent critic of the war, about civilian victims of American bombing attacks, negotiations with the Taliban and the role of al-Qaida.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Struck, is Germany safer today, after seven years of having the German army, the Bundeswehr, in Afghanistan?
Struck: Of course. Under the Taliban regime, the threat of terrorism coming from Afghanistan was much greater for us in Europe and in Germany. We will still have to defend our security in the Hindu Kush region. This statement will continue to be true until Afghanistan no longer poses a threat in terms of terrorism.
It's a real blitzkrieg, the combined attack of massed United States marines, Afghan forces and NATO troops which has been launched against Taliban rebels in southern Afghanistan. It is also the first test of President Barack Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan. On Thursday, before dawn, 4000 US marines and hundreds of Afghan soldiers began an offensive in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. They were parachuted from 50 NATO aircraft south of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah in the River Helmand valley. Afghan rebels at present control the area. British NATO troops have never been able to gain a real foothold here. It is also the centre of Afghanistan's large-scale opium poppy cultivation activities. The US is convinced Operation Khanjar (`strike of the sword') will prove a turning point in its fight against the rebels. D-Day Dutch General Mart de Kruif, commander of joint NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, agrees. In a speech to US marine commanders, he compared the offensive to D-Day. "Just as the Allied landings on the Normandy coast in June 1944 heralded victory over Nazi Germany, so the offensive in Helmand is designed to be a decisive watershed in the war against the Taliban."
It's a real blitzkrieg, the combined attack of massed United States marines, Afghan forces and NATO troops which has been launched against Taliban rebels in southern Afghanistan. It is also the first test of President Barack Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan.
On Thursday, before dawn, 4000 US marines and hundreds of Afghan soldiers began an offensive in the southern Afghan province of Helmand. They were parachuted from 50 NATO aircraft south of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah in the River Helmand valley.
Afghan rebels at present control the area. British NATO troops have never been able to gain a real foothold here. It is also the centre of Afghanistan's large-scale opium poppy cultivation activities. The US is convinced Operation Khanjar (`strike of the sword') will prove a turning point in its fight against the rebels.
D-Day Dutch General Mart de Kruif, commander of joint NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, agrees. In a speech to US marine commanders, he compared the offensive to D-Day.
"Just as the Allied landings on the Normandy coast in June 1944 heralded victory over Nazi Germany, so the offensive in Helmand is designed to be a decisive watershed in the war against the Taliban."
