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U.S. may launch offensive in Afghanistan
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-01 09:40
Thousands of U.S. soldiers are preparing an operation against Taliban
insurgents to preempt an expected spring offensive which could upset plans for
Afghan parliamentary elections, a senior American general said in an interview
Tuesday.
The operation will begin within days of the Dec. 7 inauguration of Hamid
Karzai as Afghanistan's first directly elected president — an event that itself
is a potential target, Maj. Gen. Eric Olson said.
"There could be an unhappy coincidence between the enemy's spring offensive
and the parliamentary elections," Olson said at the main U.S. base at Bagram,
north of Kabul.
He said the aim is to tighten the Afghan-Pakistan border by sending special
forces on raids against rebel leaders.
Olson said the offensive — which will cover the entire U.S.-led force of
about 18,000 — would attempt to disturb militants in their "winter sanctuaries"
so that they will be in no shape to move against the parliamentary vote slated
for April.
The military will be "attempting to attack him in those sanctuaries while
he's resting and refitting, staging and planning," said Olson, the operational
commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The new operation, dubbed Lightning Freedom, follows Lightning Resolve, a
security push begun in July to protect the October presidential election, the
first vote since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Forty people were reported killed on election day, Oct. 9, but Taliban
holdouts failed to make good on threats to assault polling stations across the
country.
More than 8 million Afghans voted, handing Karzai a majority that foreign
donors bankrolling the country's democratic rebirth hope will bring stability
after more than 20 years of fighting.
Still, violence continues to plague the south and east, where militants are
strongest. A roadside bomb killed two U.S. soldiers in Uruzgan province last
week, and American officials say militants continue to cross to and from
neighboring Pakistan.
To reinforce the frontier, Olson said the U.S. military would establish
several new camps close to the border. He said Afghan forces would also
reposition "along and astride" routes used by militants. And he promised to
strengthen cooperation with Pakistani forces across the border.
U.S. special forces already have been moved to near the main Torkham border
crossing in Nangarhar province, where the U.S. military recently conducted raids
on suspected al-Qaida targets, Olson said.
He said there was concern militants could attempt a "spectacular act" during
Karzai's inauguration. The event is expected to attract officials from around
the world, though it is unclear who will represent the U.S. government.
Still, the general said the military had no information on any specific plans
to attack the ceremony.
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