The international and Afghan media reported that a large number of civilian were killed in the military operation, Mushtarak, launched in the Helmand province of the country. The international organizations say that the coalition forces were not letting their medical teams to look after the wounded civilians in the war-zone. Due to lack of emergency cover, many civilians succumbed to injuries in the Helmand area.
The international media also reported that the North Atlantic treaty Organization (NATO) led troops were facing stiff resistance in the Taliban strong hold of Marjah. Because of this resistance, the NATO forces have slowed down their advance in the area.
Operation Mushtarak
If media reports are to be believed then so far the Taliban are successful in their military strategy and there is a fear of Operation Mushtarak failure in Helmand. In this scenario, the US president has called a meeting of his military advisers.
On February 13, the Coalition forces started its military operation in the Southern Afghan province of Helmand and this offensive was code named Operation Mushtarak. In this operation, the districts of Helmand including Lashkar Gah, Nadali and Marjah town were the focused targets.
The mentioned areas were said to be the strongholds of Taliban while Marjah is such a place where NATO and US troops so far could not make any success against the Taliban since the country was attacked in 2001. The international troops were frightened to wage war in this dangerous area.
Targeting Innocent People
It must be noted that in the ongoing operation, in addition to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), American Mariners and 15,000 other troops of various US Army units were taking part. The military action was also one of the largest operations since 2001 in Afghanistan. However, innocent people were targeted on large scale in this military operation as the civilian populated areas were frequently attacked. These killing of civilians are reported in the international media regularly. One such report was recently compiled by the reputed The New York Times.
Rockets fired by the coalition troops hit a residential compound in Helmand and 12 civilians were killed on the spot in this incident. The slain persons included five kids and 5 women and all the deceased belonged were from the same family. While in this connection, by killing innocent civilians, the operation would hardly contribute to its success.
The local population hate against the US-NATO led forces was on rise in the area and the benefit directly goes to the Taliban. The Taliban staged a defensive deliberate retreat in the area to provide safety to the civilian population.
The civilian population was strongly alienating and they were becoming deadly against the international troops way of war. The matter turned so serious that even the Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed his displeasure were the killing of the Afghan civilians.
The Amnesty International also expressed serious concerns over the killing of innocent Afghan citizens despite the commitment of the ISAF and US to avoid collateral damages. The civil population in the conflict-hit area could not shift to safer places due to a number of reasons and resultantly the losses of the civilians were on the rise in the military action.
Medical Supplies and Treatment
The Italian relief organization, Emergency disclosed that many a civilians could not be treated as most of the roads in the area were blocked by the Coalition Troops and the death-toll was on the rise owing to the blockade.
The organization has expressed its concern over the rising killings of the innocents and termed it a war-crime. The same apprehensions were voiced by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC said that the civilian population stuck in the war-zone needed urgent medical supplies and treatment but the roads were closed by the NATO and US forces. There was no access to the injured and the ailing, the ICRC reported. The ICRC further said that 40 km away from Marjah is a hospital; however, it lacked proper medical facilities.
The claim of the ISAF to have brought under control 70 percent area in Helmand is baseless. The Afghan citizens were expressing intense concern over the killing of civilians in Helmand. They said the Taliban were staging rigorous resistance to the US and NATO forces. The Wall Street Journal said the same thing also.
Its report said the progress and advance of the forces in Marjah and Nadali was very slow and the biggest challenge was the Taliban Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which were planted in the whole region by the Taliban before the operation in the areas. The Taliban even planted IED on trees branches and inside walls in addition to the roads.
A commander of the Afghan military Brigade One, Sherin Shah said the coalition troops were suffering increasing human losses due to the IEDs.
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