Tough fight in Afghan assault as government moves to take control

Taliban fighters under siege in southern Afghanistan were putting up a tough fight yesterday, military officials said, as civilian authorities geared up to take over.

An elite Afghan police force began arriving in the Marjah and Nad Ali districts of Helmand province that are the focus of Operation Mushtarak, involving 15,000 US-led troops from Nato and Afghanistan.

Nato called for Dutch troops to stay in Afghanistan after a dispute about their mission brought about the collapse of the Netherlands government.

The number of foreign troops killed in Operation Mushtarak rose to 12 with the death of an ISAF soldier during fighting on Friday as Nato's biggest assault against the militants moved into its second week.

Operation Mushtarak is the showcase test of US President Barack Obama's new war strategy which pivots on counter-insurgency and winning the confidence of local people.

Commanders said they expect the military phase of the operation to last another three weeks as they strive to clear the areas of snipers and innumerable hidden bombs left behind by fleeing fighters.

Nato described fighting in pockets northeast and west of Marjah as "difficult", adding "insurgent activity is not limited to those areas".

Of 22 foreign soldiers who died in Afghanistan in the past few weeks, 12 were in Operation Mushtarak, spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Sergeant Jeff Loftin told AFP.

Afghan police were deploying to the target area, he said, to establish a civilian security presence even as fighting continued.

The deployment of a 400-man brigade of the newly-established Public Protection Police Force was a first step towards consolidating government authority over the area in the central Helmand River Valley.

One Afghan soldier has been killed, said Daud Ahmadi, Helmand provincial spokesman. Afghan troops account for almost one-third of the combined force in what has been billed by Nato as an "Afghan-led" operation.

ISAF said a civilian was killed by troops in Nad Ali last Friday when they mistakenly thought he was running towards them with a bomb.

Ahmadi said 15 civilians have been killed in Mushtarak, but it was not clear if the figure included the ISAF report, while some rights groups put the civilian death toll at 21.

Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi denied reports the militants were using human shields, but took responsibility for the planting of IEDs - the greatest threat to the advance and the biggest killer of foreign troops.

President Hamid Karzai, opening parliament after its winter break, lent his support to the war against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

"The fight against terrorists and those who prevent peace in the country should continue and our people should be able to live peaceful, prosperous lives," Karzai said. With the commander of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal sitting in the front row, Karzai repeated his call for civilian casualties be avoided at all costs.

Amid reports food prices are skyrocketing and access to medical treatment is almost impossible, Nato listed "local concerns" as "availability of food stores, freedom of movement and the ability to tend to crops and livestock".

Marja resident Abdul Ghias 53, speaking by telephone, said it was impossible to move in or out of Marjah as roads are mined with IEDs.

"Most people cannot get hold of medicine or food, and people cannot work in their farms," he told AFP.

The offensive, billed as one of the biggest since the 2001 US-led invasion, aims to clear the Taliban from one of their last bastions and allow the government to re-establish control and build civilian services.