Mariniers uit de VS leveren volgens een Amerikaanse commandant in Afghanistan hevige gevechten met strijders van de Taliban nadat ze gisteren in het zuiden de nieuwe operatie Khanjar zijn gestart.
Dat meldt De Volkskrant. Ten zuiden van het stadje Garmsir in de provincie Helmand wordt zwaar gevochten.
De Volkskrant: Amerikanen in hevig gevecht met Taliban tijdens nieuw offensief
Het nieuwe offensief van de Coalitie, waaraan ook 600 Afghaanse militairen deel zouden nemen en Afghaanse politiemannen, werd donderdag ingezet.
De Voice of America melded in een artikel: “Massive US Offensive Targets Taliban in Southern Afghanistan”
De zender schrijft: “The U.S. military in Afghanistan launched a major offensive in Taliban-controlled parts of southern Afghanistan Thursday, the first such operation under U.S. President Barack Obama's revamped strategy to defeat an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency.”
Thousands of U.S. Marines and hundreds of Afghan soldiers and police landed deep inside southern Helmand province under the cover of darkness in the early hours of Thursday, marking the beginning of operation Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword."
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-02-voa5.cfm
De BBC meldt: “The US military says the aim of the offensive is to provide security ahead of presidential elections this August.”
De Britse krant The Telegraph schrijft: “US Marines hit Taliban heartland as part of Barack Obama's 'big surge'”
More than 4,000 marines and 600 Afghan soldiers backed by helicopters and jets stormed Taliban-held districts to drive out the militant fighters.
“Commanders hope the offensive by thousands of newly arrived troops will be a turning point in the eight-year-battle against a stubborn Taliban-led insurgency,” according to the newspaper.
“It also represents a major test of Mr Obama's surge strategy, with Washington strongly hinting it will not send any further reinforcements to the country.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/5722521/US-Marines-hit-Taliban-heartland-as-part-of-Barack-Obamas-big-surge.html
Amerikaan gevangen
De BBC meldt intussen dat er een Amerikaanse soldaat gevangen is genomen in het oosten van Afghanistan: “Afghan rebels capture US soldier”
“A US soldier has been captured by militants in eastern Afghanistan, the US military has said. The soldier is believed to be the first seized in either Iraq or Afghanistan for at least two years.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8130476.stm
Zie ook”
Major military operation under way in Afghanistan - Yahoo! News
Thousands of US Marines poured from helicopters and armored vehicles into Taliban-controlled villages of southern Afghanistan Thursday.
U.S. launches 'major operation' in Afghanistan - CNN.com
US troops have launched a "major operation" against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, US military officials announced in Afghanistan early Thursday.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)