KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A Taliban spokesman says the Afghan insurgents are still in control of the southern town of Marjah amid ongoing fighting with NATO and Afghan forces.
Spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press by phone Saturday that Taliban fighters are holding their ground in the town, a longtime Taliban stronghold and drug-processing area.
Ahmadi said Afghan government claims of 20 dead Taliban fighters were exaggerated. He said two Taliban fighters have been killed and two wounded. He declined to say how many fighters the Taliban have in the area.
NATO has claimed early success in the new offensive on Marjah, described as the biggest joint military operation since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban's hard-line government.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) — Thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers stormed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah before dawn Saturday, sweeping by air and ground against scattered resistance into the biggest southern town under militant control. The massive offensive was aimed at breaking the Taliban grip over a wide area of their southern heartland.
Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, NATO commander of forces in southern Afghanistan, said Afghan and coalition troops, aided by 60 helicopters, made a "successful insertion" into Marjah in southern Helmand province without incurring any casualties. He said the operation was going "without a hitch."
Thousands of British, U.S. and Canadian troops swept into Taliban areas to the north of Marjah.
There have been no coalition casualties reported, but NATO said three U.S. soldiers were killed Saturday in a bombing elsewhere in southern Afghanistan.
At least 20 insurgents have been killed in the Helmand operation, said Gen. Sher Mohammad Zazai, the commander of Afghan forces in the region. Troops have recovered Kalashnikov rifles, heavy machine guns and grenades from 11 insurgents captured so far.
In Kabul, Defense Minister Rahim Wardak told reporters at midafternoon that most of the resistance was centered around the main market district of Marjah.
The ground advance into Marjah was slowed by extensive fields of mines, homemade bombs and booby traps as Marine infantry crossed a major canal into the town's northern entrance. The town's canals were built by the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s.
The few civilians who ventured out to talk to the Marines said teams of Taliban fighters were falling back deeper into the town, perhaps to try to regroup and mount harassment attacks.
The long-awaited assault on Marjah is the biggest offensive since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistanand is a major test of a new NATO strategy focused on protecting civilians. The attack is also the first major combat operation since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 U.S. reinforcements here in December to try to turn the tide of the war.
President Hamid Karzai called on Afghan and international troops "to exercise absolute caution to avoid harming civilians," including avoiding airstrikes in areas where civilians are at risk. In a statement, he also called on insurgent fighters to renounce violence and reintegrate into civilian life.
Gunfire was ringing through the town by midday Saturday as troops picked their way slowly through poppy fields lined with homemade explosives and other land mines.
The bridge over the canal into Marjah from the north was so rigged with explosives that Marines erected temporary bridges to cross into the town.
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