Minivans piled high with mattresses and clothing lined up at checkpoints as hundreds of civilians fled a Taliban-controlled area ahead of a planned NATO offensive in southern Afghanistan.
The militants, meanwhile, dug in for a fight, reinforcing their positions with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy weapons, witnesses said.
The US military has not given a start date for the operation to clear insurgents from the Helmand Province town of Marjah, the biggest community in the south under insurgent control. But the military has said fighting will start soon and many residents weren’t taking any chances.
PHOTO: REUTERS
US aircraft dropped leaflets over Marjah on Sunday warning people of the coming offensive, officers said, and the US fired illumination rounds after sundown, apparently to help spot Taliban positions.
Villagers said the leaflets were aimed primarily at the militants, listing several of their commanders by name and warning fighters to leave the area or be killed.
US General Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, said the success of the operation depends on convincing civilians that the government will improve services once the militants are gone.
The offensive in Marjah — a farming community and major opium-production center with a population of 80,000 — will be the first since US President Barack Obama announced he was sending 30,000 additional troops.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai discussed the on-going operations in Helmand Province in a telephone conversation on Sunday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a spokesperson for Brown said.
The spokesperson said they “welcomed the leading role” played by Afghan Security Forces in preparing for the offensive, adding that “Afghan leadership was fundamental to the success of the operation.”
US officials have long telegraphed their intention to seize Marjah. McChrystal said the element of surprise was not as important as letting citizens know that an Afghan government will be there to replace Taliban overlords and drug traffickers.
“We’re trying to create a situation where we communicate to them that when the government re-establishes security, they’ll have choices,” McChrystal told reporters on Sunday.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said there was no way to count the number of people who have left Marjah because many have moved in with relatives or rented houses in nearby towns instead of registering for emergency relief.
ICRC spokesman Bijan Farnoudi noted a first aid post in Marjah had recorded an increase in patients with battle wounds in the last few weeks.
He said the organization was poised to react quickly if a refugee crisis arises.
“The burden on families taking in relatives for an extended amount of time can be significant,” he said.
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