NATO warns villagers to 'keep heads down'
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Preparations: NATO forces are planning one of the war's biggest offensives (AFP: Patrick Baz )
Afghan villagers should stay inside and "keep their heads down" when thousands of troops launch a massive assault on a densely populated district in coming days, a NATO spokesman said.
US-led NATO forces are planning one of the eight-year-old war's biggest offensives to seize Marjah, a patchwork of desert canals and opium fields that is the last large Taliban-held bastion in Helmand, Afghanistan's most violent province.
The assault, the first since US President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan in December, is the start of a campaign to impose government control on rebel-held areas.
Western countries hope military success this year will persuade Taliban fighters to lay down arms and their leaders to accept invitations to talk.
Hundreds of civilians in the area have fled but most of the area's population, estimated at up to 100,000, remain in their homes in the face of what could be an unprecedented level of fighting.
NATO civilian representative Mark Sedwill said "sufficient" plans were in place to feed and house any civilians who flee, but declined to give details of how many displaced people NATO or the Afghan authorities had the capacity to help.
"There are good reasons not to go into the exact numbers of details of the operation at this stage," Mr Sedwill said.
"What we can say is that we are confident there are sufficient resources there to accommodate and feed anybody who chooses to leave the area."
Helmand's governor, Gulab Mangal, said about 164 families have fled the area in recent days.
NATO forces have decided to advise civilians in Marjah not to leave their homes, although they say they do not know whether the assault will lead to heavy fighting.
"The message to the people of the area is of course, keep your heads down, stay inside when the operation is going ahead," Mr Sedwill said.
"We very much hope the military phase of this operation will go ahead swiftly and with as little incident as possible.
"This of course very much depends on the conduct of those people who are in Marjah at the moment, their choices about whether to resist or to lay down their weapons."
Unlike previous military operations, the assault on Marjah has been widely flagged for months.
Commanders say they hope this will persuade many fighters to lay down their arms or flee, reducing the eventual death toll.
- Reuters
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