NATO spokesman on military offensive against Taliban
(13 Feb 2010) SHOTLIST 1. Wide of start of news conference 2. Mid of reporters and officials 3. Mid of Mark Sedwill, NATO spokesman and Afghan military official 4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mark Sedwill, NATO spokesman: "The military phase of the operation, as you know, began today and so far the news from the ground appears to be positive, but we are only in the first day, and as these gentleman around me, with much more experience of military operations, will know one should never predict an outcome too early in an operation." 5. Close up of hand writing 6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mark Sedwill, NATO spokesman: "I can''t yet say how long it will take for this military phase to get to the point when we can bring in the civilian support from the Afghan government - we hope that will happen quickly - and that civilian support, the district development teams, is ready to go and is ready to come in on to the ground with the district governor under the leadership of the provincial government, meshing together the provincial and the national services on the ground as soon as the security situation there permits it and we hope that will be very shortly, but it would be wrong for me to predict an exact timeline at this stage." 7. Close up of miniature NATO flag on desk 8. Wide of news conference STORYLINE NATO officials were cautiously optimistic on Saturday following the start of a massive offensive aimed at establishing Afghan government authority over the biggest southern town under militant control and breaking the Taliban grip over a wide area of their southern heartland. Spokesman Mark Sedwill said that "so far the news from the ground appears to be positive" but added that "one should never predict an outcome too early in an operation." Earlier thousands of US Marines and Afghan soldiers stormed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah by air and ground, meeting only scattered resistance but facing a daunting thicket of bombs and booby traps that slowed the allied advance through the town. Thousands of British, U.S. and Canadian troops also swept into Taliban areas to the north of Marjah, seeking to clear a wide swath of villages that had been under Taliban control for several years. The massive offensive was aimed at establishing Afghan government authority over the biggest southern town under militant control and breaking the Taliban grip over a wide area of their southern heartland. Two NATO troops have been killed in the coalition offensive. A NATO statement said one service member died in an IED strike, while another died from small-arms fire. It gave no further details on their nationalities. They are the first reported coalition casualties from the offensive At least 20 militants have been reported killed in the Helmand operation, said General Sher Mohammad Zazai, the commander of Afghan forces in the region. The few civilians who ventured out to talk to the Marines said teams of Taliban fighters were falling back deeper into the town, perhaps to try to regroup and mount harassment attacks to prevent the government from rushing in aid and public services - a key step in the operation. Sedwill said on Saturday that it was not clear when the civilian part of the operation could begin. "Civilian support, the district development teams, is ready to go and is ready to come in on to the ground with the district governor under the leadership of the provincial government ... and we hope that will be very shortly." The attack is also the first major combat operation since US President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 U.S. reinforcements in December to try to turn the tide of the war. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
