US marines went on the offensive around the southern Afghan city of Kandahar yesterday, sealing off roads around the Taliban stronghold, as Pashtun fighters mounted attacks on the Taliban's ragged defences.
According to reports from the US military base "Rhino", south of the city, a stream of armoured cars and Humvee all-terrain vehicles have been moving out of the marine base in the past few days.
"We stepped off into a new phase of this campaign, and that's participating in offensive operations," said Major James Parrington of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
He said the marines would cut off roads and pathways south of the city, while reconnaissance units circled around to the north. The main thrust of the offensive, however, was carried out by anti-Taliban Pashtun fighters.
"Opposition groups are closing in on Kandahar," he added. "Our operations are really in support of what the opposition groups are doing."
As of last night, the marines had yet to enter into battle with the city's defenders, but officers said skirmishes were expected as the US forces tightened their stranglehold.
The cordon is aimed at preventing reinforcements entering Kandahar, and at stopping Taliban fighters or their al-Qaida allies slipping away to launch a guerrilla war elsewhere. Pentagon officials have said repeatedly that they want the Taliban or al-Qaida leadership to be captured or killed.
Reports that the Afghan leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had offered to surrender in return for an amnesty, were greeted with derision in the Pentagon last night.
"If that's true, he cannot be serious. It's too late for that," one official said.
The marine offensive reflects an aggressive switch of tactics for the US soldiers at the base, first established at a desert airfield on November 25. Much of the past 10 days has been spent sending out patrols and setting up a defensive perimeter with foxholes and sandbags.
The only previous combat incident took place a day after the marines arrived, when they attacked a suspected Taliban convoy passing nearby.
