Large Offensive Set For South Afghanistan
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Large Offensive Set For South Afghanistan
MUSA QALA, Afghanistan -- The U.S.-led coalition is mobilizing more than 11,000 troops to attack militants in the southern mountains of Afghanistan, the biggest offensive since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
The push starting Thursday by U.S., British, Canadian and Afghan troops will try to squeeze Taliban fighters in four volatile provinces. It will focus on southern Uruzgan and northeastern Helmand, where the military says most of the forces are massed.
The offensive follows the fiercest Taliban-led violence since the hard-line Islamic government was toppled for harboring Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, U.S. operational commander in Afghanistan, said coalition and Afghan troops would attack Taliban havens in Kandahar, Helmand, Zabol and Uruzgan provinces.
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EUROPE
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The episode -- discovered when a cleaner spotted the man, in handcuffs and fatigues, on a plane -- underscored Irish suspicions that the U.S. military could also be ferrying munitions and terrorism suspects through this officially neutral nation.
U.S. Ambassador James Kenny confirmed that a Marine was being transported Sunday under guard on a Defense Department-chartered aircraft and expressed regret for the incident.
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