(3 Feb 2010)
1. Wide of news conference
2. Mid of news conference with International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Spokesman Brigadier General Eric Tremblay (right) and Afghan Defence Ministry Spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi (centre)
3. Reporters
4. Close-up of reporter writing
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Brigadier General Eric Tremblay, International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Spokesman:
"The Afghan National security forces and ISAF as partners are preparing a major operation in central Helmand, that will further separate insurgents from the population and enable the Afghan government to deliver proper governance and offer development alternatives."
6. Close-up of photographer
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Brigadier General Eric Tremblay, International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Spokesman:
"In terms of strength, there will be at least a thousand Afghan National Police, thousands of Afghan National Army and many thousands of ISAF troops."
8. Cameramen
9. Mid of news conference
STORYLINE:
US troops and their Afghan and NATO allies are planning their biggest joint offensive since the start of the Afghan war, targeting a southern town believed to be the biggest Taliban stronghold, officers said on Wednesday.
No date for the start of the offensive has been released due to security.
But US commanders have said they plan to capture the town of Marjah, 380 miles (610 kilometres) southwest of Kabul, this winter.
The town is a hub of the Taliban militants'' lucrative opium trade.
In Kabul, Brigadier General Eric Tremblay, the spokesman for NATO''s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said the purpose of the operation was to "further separate insurgents from the population and enable the Afghan government to deliver proper governance and offer development alternatives."
It will be the first major offensive since US President Barack Obama ordered 30-thousand more US troops to Afghanistan, and many of the Marines set to participate arrived as part of the surge.
Up to 125-thousand people are believed to live in the district around Marjah, an agricultural centre surrounded by a maze of irrigation canals built with American aid in the 1950s and 1960s.
About 80-thousand people live in or around the town itself.
Between 600 and 1,000 Taliban and foreign fighters are thought to operate in the area, US officers say.
NATO officials won''t say how many NATO and Afghan troops have been earmarked for the offensive, but they are expected to vastly outnumber the Taliban and their allies.
Tremblay said the operation will include at least 1,000 Afghan police, and thousands of Afghan soldiers as well as thousands of NATO troops.
US officers say the offensive will involve the highest number of Afghan forces in any joint operation to date.
Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi did not specifically mention Marjah, but told reporters in Kabul that a large operation is coming "in the near future" in Helmand.
Fighting escalated in Helmand in 2006, and the sprawling southern province was transformed into one of the deadliest parts of the country for NATO forces.
Last spring, thousands of US Marines arrived in the province to reinforce the British military.
British and American forces launched twin operations to try to stabilise the area before the August presidential election, in which turnout in Helmand was extremely low.
US officials have spoken publicly about plans to take Marjah in hopes that many civilians will leave the town, along with Taliban fighters who are not deeply committed to the insurgency.
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