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**fedelwet** · 02-17-2010, 08:11 PM

Kingsman Dawson died after Taliban insurgents were lured into an ambush near Musa Qala

The top Nato commander in Afghanistan, American General Stanley McChrystal, yesterday warned British troops taking part in Operation Moshtarak that they faced 'difficult days' from a Taliban fight-back. UK troops have secured about three-quarters of the former Taliban power base of Nad'e Ali. and reconstruction teams backed by the Afghan government will soon move in.

But General McChrystal, visiting British soldiers, said the battle was not over. Major General Nick Carter, British commander of Nato forces in southern Afghanistan, said U.S. Marines and Afghan troops entering Marjah, the key bomb-making and opium-producing town, were facing sterner resistance. Layers of IEDs had also been laid in their path. He also insisted that a Nato rocket strike which killed 12 Afghan civilians on Sunday had hit the correct target.

Initial reports suggested the two missiles, fired from the back of a truck, had gone astray. But General Carter said they had hit the intended target and it was a 'fair assumption' that insurgents had been killed in the strike - suggesting they had been using innocent people as human shields.

Caution: Nato forces are having to advance much more slowly because Taliban fighters are using civilians as human shields

Danger: Soldiers are being forced to clear layers of improvised explosive devices as they clear out the Taliban

It was also revealed that the first Afghan soldier had been killed in the operation - the biggest joint effort of the war. In total the allies have suffered four deaths. Insurgents are firing at Afghan troops from inside or next to compounds where women and children appear to have been ordered to stand on a roof or in a window, according to General Mohiudin Ghori, the brigade commander for Afghan troops in Marjah.

General Ghori said: 'Especially in the south of Marjah, the enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof in a second-floor or third-floor window. 'They are trying to get us to fire on them and kill the civilians.' He added troops have made choices either not to fire at the insurgents with civilians nearby or had to target and advance much more slowly in order to distinguish between militants and civilians as they go. Even with such caution on both the Nato and Afghan side, civilians have been killed.

Nato has confirmed 15 civilian deaths in the operation. Afghan rights groups say at least 19 have been killed.

02-17-2010, 08:11 PM	#2
fedelwet Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 524 Senior Member	Kingsman Dawson died after Taliban insurgents were lured into an ambush near Musa Qala The top Nato commander in Afghanistan, American General Stanley McChrystal, yesterday warned British troops taking part in Operation Moshtarak that they faced 'difficult days' from a Taliban fight-back. UK troops have secured about three-quarters of the former Taliban power base of Nad'e Ali. and reconstruction teams backed by the Afghan government will soon move in. But General McChrystal, visiting British soldiers, said the battle was not over. Major General Nick Carter, British commander of Nato forces in southern Afghanistan, said U.S. Marines and Afghan troops entering Marjah, the key bomb-making and opium-producing town, were facing sterner resistance. Layers of IEDs had also been laid in their path. He also insisted that a Nato rocket strike which killed 12 Afghan civilians on Sunday had hit the correct target. Initial reports suggested the two missiles, fired from the back of a truck, had gone astray. But General Carter said they had hit the intended target and it was a 'fair assumption' that insurgents had been killed in the strike - suggesting they had been using innocent people as human shields. Caution: Nato forces are having to advance much more slowly because Taliban fighters are using civilians as human shields Danger: Soldiers are being forced to clear layers of improvised explosive devices as they clear out the Taliban It was also revealed that the first Afghan soldier had been killed in the operation - the biggest joint effort of the war. In total the allies have suffered four deaths. Insurgents are firing at Afghan troops from inside or next to compounds where women and children appear to have been ordered to stand on a roof or in a window, according to General Mohiudin Ghori, the brigade commander for Afghan troops in Marjah. General Ghori said: 'Especially in the south of Marjah, the enemy is fighting from compounds where soldiers can very clearly see women or children on the roof in a second-floor or third-floor window. 'They are trying to get us to fire on them and kill the civilians.' He added troops have made choices either not to fire at the insurgents with civilians nearby or had to target and advance much more slowly in order to distinguish between militants and civilians as they go. Even with such caution on both the Nato and Afghan side, civilians have been killed. Nato has confirmed 15 civilian deaths in the operation. Afghan rights groups say at least 19 have been killed.
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