NATO plans offensive as trouble rises in Afghan north (News Feature)

By Farhad Peikar May 13, 2010, 13:11 GMT

Kunduz, Afghanistan - German and US troops are preparing this year for a major operation in northern Afghanistan as security deteriorates in the once peaceful region.

For years after the 2001 ouster of the Taliban regime, the northern provinces were deemed the most peaceful area in the country. NATO deployed a small contingent of German forces there, which had been barred by Berlin from taking part in conventional warfare against the small pockets of Taliban fighters in the area.

But the militants eventually penetrated the north as NATO's attention and resources were concentrated in the south and east, the main hubs for Taliban activity. Now, the militants hold sway in large swaths of Kunduz and Baghlan provinces.

'Insurgents are moving where they think the resistance is least,' said General Bruno Kasdorf, Germany's top military officer in Afghanistan.

Kasdorf, who is chief of staff at NATO headquarters in Afghanistan, said NATO officials were aware of the 'very tight' situation of the region and were planning to increase troop levels for an upcoming operation this year.

'We are going to take them on, and there will be for sure an operation like those that we are conducting down in Helmand and in the very near future in Kandahar,' Kasdorf said Wednesday in Kunduz city, the capital of Kunduz province.

Thousands of additional US forces are being deployed in the southern province of Kandahar, where military planners have said a massive operation is set to begin in summer.

The operation in Kandahar would come in the wake of the biggest-ever offensive by allied forces in neighbouring Helmand province, where in February they retook the Marjah district, one of the main Taliban bastions in the region.

About 4,500 German troops are stationed in Kunduz and other areas of northern Afghanistan. Around 500 additional German soldiers and 4,000 US forces were expected to arrive in the region by summer.

The reinforcements would bring the total number of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force troops in the north to 12,000, Kasdorf said.

Mohammad Omar, Kunduz's governor, said Thursday that he hoped the fresh US forces would 'act more aggressively against the Taliban in the area than the German troops.'

US Special Forces, backed by Afghan troops, killed 35 Taliban fighters, including five foreigners, in a raid Wednesday night on a Taliban hideout in Kunduz province ahead of the troops influx and planned offensive, Omar said.

Three rebel commanders and at least three militants who had been trained to carry out suicide attacks in the province were among those killed, he said.

NATO confirmed the operation, saying it was ordered after intelligence information 'confirmed the Taliban were staging for a large attack.'

NATO troops have increased their operations against the Taliban in the north in recent months, but the number and intensity of attacks against foreign troops there have also risen drastically over the past few years. Seven German soldiers were killed in Taliban attacks in the region in April, the bloodiest month for the forces.

As casualties have risen so has the skepticism among the German public about success in the Afghan war. The prospect of a major military operation in the north raises concerns that the potential fatalities could further turn public opinion in Germany against the Afghan war.

However, Kasdorf said success against the insurgents in Kunduz did not necessarily require intense fighting.

'It can also be done in a different way to improve the security in a certain area,' he said, adding that the military could contribute only 20 per cent toward counterinsurgency operations while '80 per cent needs to come from other organizations.'

Other officials have said recently that winning the war also would involve instituting good governance, a fair judicial system, development and political settlements among the Afghan tribes, which would all help turn the country's people against the militants.

But Kasdorf said NATO wouldn't shy from a fight.

'Whether there is going to be a tough fight, it depends very much also on insurgents,' Kasdorf said. 'If that is necessary and required, we won't avoid it.'