By Gabrielle Tassone - February 15, 2010
Troops in Afghanistan are taking on their biggest operation yet since the start of the war in 2001, this time focusing on a Taliban stronghold in the Helmand Province.
Considered the biggest operation since the arrival of American forces in Afghanistan, the Marjah offensive began Saturday in the district of Helmand Province, in southern Afghanistan.
The offensive differs from previous efforts in that U.S. and allied troops are working much more closely with Afghan forces than ever before. While many other operations were conducted without consent from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, the Marjah operation has recently been approved by the Afghan government, and many more Afghan soldiers and police are involved in the fight against the Taliban.
"While this is an Afghan led operation, I think it highlights the special partnership we have developed that I am very proud of," General Stanley McChrystal said.
The offensive is part of a broader counterinsurgency plan that will take place over the next several months.
Thousands of US marines, accompanied by Afghan soldiers and police, entered the Marjah district over the weekend, beginning an operation that has been intentionally publicized for weeks.
By announcing the operation in advance, the US military forced some Taliban fighters in the district to flee the area. It was the military's hope to weed out the less serious fighters, and focus on the more driven members of the Taliban who will remain in the area.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, top American officials have said that the operation, which is only two days old, has been going well, despite an incident on Sunday, in which ten or more Afghan citizens were killed during a rocket strike.
General McChrystal has already apologized to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the incident.
Though it is not expected to single-handedly change conditions in Afghanistan, the Marjah offensive is expected to create conditions to see if the new strategy of putting nearly 100,000 troops in Afghanistan by the end of they year will work.
"It is the first major operation in which we will demonstrate, I think successfully, that the new elements of the strategy -- which combine not only security operations but economic reform and good governance at the local and regional level with a much more visible presence of Afghan forces -- will take place," Jim Jones, President Obama's national security adviser, said on "Fox News Sunday."
