US operations already started in Kandahar: Commanders

Operations to push the Taliban out of their iconic Afghan stronghold of Kandahar are underway and will steadily build in the months ahead,military officials said on Thursday.

The military and political efforts against the Taliban around Kandahar,Afghanistan’s third biggest city and the militia’s spiritual capital,are the next step in the US-led strategy to end a war now in its ninth year.

“We have been making preparation and plans concerning Operation Omaid,” said General Sher Mohammad Zazai,Afghan army commander in the country’s south.

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“We’re still working on the plan,” he said,without giving further details.

Kandahar is the next target in major military operations to eradicate the Taliban from areas they have controlled,in many cases in tandem with drug cartels,over the years since their regime was overthrown in 2001.

The commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan,US General Stanley McChrystal,said the offensive had begun with initial military and political efforts,including operations to secure key roads and districts.

Speaking by teleconference to reporters in Washington,he said: “That process has already begun (and) will ramp up in the weeks and months ahead,” lasting “a significant time”.

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Operation Omaid follows Operation Mushtarak,currently under way in neighbouring Helmand province,which appears to have largely pushed back the Taliban and given the government a chance to take control.