US Operations Begin in Kandahar

U.S. operations to push back Taliban forces around Kandahar have "already begun" and will steadily build in coming months, the commander of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan said on Wednesday.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal told reporters that the U.S.-led offensive on the Taliban's spiritual heartland had started with initial military and political efforts, including operations designed to secure key roads and districts surrounding the southern city.

"And instead of putting a date certain on which there would be a climactic military operation, I tell you, that process has already begun," McChrystal said by teleconference from Afghanistan.

The general said the operation "will ramp up in the weeks and months ahead" and would last for "a significant time period."

Safeguarding the roads in and out of Kandahar was a crucial part of the plan, and the U.S. military had deployed more unmanned surveillance aircraft and other resources to combat roadside bombs planted by the insurgents, he said.

"If you control the environs around Kandahar, you go a long way to controlling Kandahar."

He said coalition forces, including members of a U.S. Army Stryker brigade outside Kandahar, had made some progress in securing the roads.

But he predicted the Taliban "will do everything they can to try to make that as difficult as possible" over the next several months.

The Taliban would try to inflict casualties on NATO-led forces patrolling the roads to undermine the resolve of allies and "to try to give a sense that Kandahar and the area can't be secured," he said.

The plan to "increase security" in the Kandahar region would involve "a lot of political activities as well," he said.

Referring to "complex" political conditions in Kandahar, he said coalition forces would be working "to shape the political relationships in and around Kandahar," but offered no details.

U.S. military officers and officials privately acknowledge Kandahar's local leadership has a reputation for corruption that will pose a challenge for any attempt to counter the influence of Taliban militants.

U.S. commanders had touted an offensive launched last month in Marjah in the neighboring Helmand province partly by portraying the provincial governor there as honest and effective.

But officers have said carrying out a similar operation in Kandahar would be much more daunting given the corruption charges swirling around President Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai.

Karzai's brother, the head of Kandahar's provincial council, has been dogged by allegations he has ties to the illegal opium trade.