U.S. seeks to ensure Afghan elections

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By Sara A. Carter

Two months before Afghan civilians head to the polls, U.S. military reinforcements have mounted an offensive against a growing Taliban insurgency that is threatening to destabilize the upcoming presidential elections.

Still, clinics, schools and other facilities have refused to let the government set up polling stations out of fear they will be targeted by the Taliban and tribal leaders in the dangerous southern, western and eastern provinces.

The U.S. offensive, launched shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday in the western Helmand province, was the first step in a campaign that aims to strike at the heart of the Afghan Taliban. As 4,000 U.S. Marines debarked from helicopters in the searing hot insurgent-controlled territory, it became apparent that quelling the Taliban's growth would not be easy.

The offensive - named Operation Khanjar, or Strike of the Sword - led to the death of one Marine, and several others were injured on the first day of the assault. It was the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001.

Within hours, the Marines captured the Khanishin district in the province, Agence France-Presse reported.

The U.S. military also announced that suspected Taliban insurgents were believed to have captured an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan. A Taliban commander, Mullah Sangeen, told Reuters news agency by phone that the soldier was taken as a patrol walked out of its base in Paktika province and would only be released when the U.S. military freed Taliban fighters.

The U.S. offensive comes in the middle of the campaign for the Aug. 20 election, in which President Hamid Karzai faces dozens of rivals, chief among them former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

"First, at a technical level the preparations are going well, with some glitches," said a European official who is involved in the election. The official spoke to The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation and for security reasons.

"For example, a few days ago the Ministry of Public Health officially refused to allow their clinics to be used as polling stations for fear of disruption of medical services as well as violence and destruction of their premises."

Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health could not be immediately reached for comment due to the time difference and late hour in that country.