Canada pushes into Panjwaii to disrupt Taliban lines before spring offensive

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian and Afghan troops are pushing deep into southern Afghanistan's Panjwaii district, the cradle of the Taliban, to cut off enemy supply lines in advance of a major coalition offensive in Kandahar planned for the spring.

The move, designed to capitalize on recent NATO efforts to maintain a presence in enemy territory, is meant to interrupt Taliban movements into Kandahar city, said Lt.-Col. Jerry Walsh, the commanding officer of Canada's battle group in Afghanistan.

"The insurgency in Panjwaii right now is in a state of disarray," Walsh said.

"They are being denied the freedom that they've enjoyed in the past because of the persistent presence that Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police and ISAF soldiers ... have been able to establish over the course of the past few months."

News of the move followed word from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force that more than 20 suspected insurgents had been captured in a 36-hour period in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand to the west and Khost, a tiny region on the country's eastern border.

The Panjwaii push is part of Operation Cerberus, the first in a comprehensive series of "shaping operations" aimed at securing the areas around Kandahar city.

Canadian and Afghan soldiers have spent the last four or five months living together in central and western Panjwaii, a key staging ground for the insurgency, in an effort to make their sustained presence felt by the enemy.

"This represents a significant, significant piece of ground," Walsh said.

"Significant to the insurgents because ... these are the approaches to Kandahar city that the insurgents have relied on so heavily for the last number of years. And now they're unable to use them."

The Afghans have been leading operations in Panjwaii, Walsh added.

Military planners are now laying the groundwork for a large-scale attack on the insurgency in Kandahar.

Coalition forces have made no secret they plan to follow up last month's major assault in Helmand by rooting out insurgents in Kandahar, where the bulk of Canada's troops are deployed.

The Helmand offensive, dubbed Operation Moshtarak, was the largest all-out assault on the insurgents since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Some 15,000 troops stormed the insurgent-held town of Marjah and the district of Nad Ali.

No date has been announced for the Kandahar attack. Operation Cerberus is scheduled to continue through May.

Expected to take part in the Kandahar assault are the 101st Airborne's second brigade, the 205 Corps of the Afghan army's first brigade and British troops.

Canadian Brig.-Gen. Craig King, the coalition's director of future plans in southern Afghanistan, said last month that the number of soldiers taking part in the Kandahar offensive would be "comparable" to the 15,000 that went into Helmand.

Afghan officials are preparing for the Kandahar assault by stockpiling tents, food and medical supplies for what they expect could be as many as 10,000 displaced residents.