Hundreds of Marines were dropped behind Taliban lines Friday by helicopters and MV-22 Osprey aircraft. A second, larger Marine force pushed northward from the Marines’ main base.
“We’re not taking for granted the low level of contact,’’ a Marine spokesman, Major William Pelletier, said yesterday.
“Just because it’s quiet now doesn’t mean it will be in 24 hours. Part of the operation is to have a disruptive effect on the Taliban resupply activities. The Marines and Afghan forces are continuing the clearing operation, continuing to move through the valley.’’
General David Petraeus, the top US general in charge of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, said the offensive was part of preparations for the arrival of 30,000 new US reinforcements. Petraeus said the military has been working for months to extend what he called “the envelope of security’’ around key towns in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.
Now Zad was one of the largest towns in Helmand until fighting drove away the 30,000 inhabitants. Now the area is a major supply and transportation hub for Taliban forces that use the valley to move drugs, weapons and fighters south toward major populations and to provinces in western Afghanistan.
In August, US forces launched “Operation Eastern Resolve II’’ in the Now Zad Valley to help provide security for the Afghan presidential elections and disrupt enemy activity in the area. Pelletier said the latest offensive was launched before the reinforcements arrive because it was the best time to limit the militants’ freedom of movement in the area.
“We have sufficient forces to clear this area, especially when you consider that our number of Afghan partners has almost quadrupled since July,’’ Pelletier said.
The Afghan government has approved a new seventh corps of the Afghan National Army - Corps 215 Maiwand - to be based in the Helmand capital of Lashkar Gah where the first fresh US troops are expected to arrive.
