Washington: The US and NATO forces aim to turn back the Taliban surge in Afghanistan with an 18-month intensive ground campaign that envisages clearing militants from Kandahar and the strongholds of the Haqqani network.
Warning Taliban and al Qaeda militants, top US generals have said that Marjah offensive was just the beginning and that stronger attacks were in the offing to flush out Kandahar and eastern Afghanistan, considered to be a citadel of Taliban.
"Marjah campaign where the Taliban resistance has only been disjointed is just an initial operation of what will be a 12 to 18 month campaign to overrun the Taliban," General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command told NBC TV`s `Meet The Press` programme.
He said that President Barack Obama and General Stanley McChrystal who leads a 121,000 US and NATO force in Afghanistan, had laid out a comprehensive strategy that was only beginning to unfold.
Petraeus comments come as a strong US, NATO and Afghan army detachments are close to overrunning Taliban stronghold of Marjah, whose capture would choke insurgents finances derived from poppy cultivation. His top commander in Afghanistan, McChrystal was quoted by `Times` as saying that Kandahar would be the coalition forces` next target.
`Times` said that though the US General did not specify locations of upcoming intensified campaigns, military sources said that US and NATO forces wanted to hit the elusive but powerful Taliban warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and his network in eastern Afghanistan.
The US intelligence forces have so far been pounding the Haqqani networks hideouts in the Pakistani tribal belt targeting them with drone-fired hellfire missiles and apparently were now poised to confront him head-on in his strongholds of Khost, Pakyta, Pakhtiar and Gardez provinces.
"We are going to go where significant part of population are at risk and Kandahar is clearly very important not just to the south, but to the nation," McChrystal said, adding "It is not the only area though."
On the Marjah offensive, the US Commander said, "In many ways it is a model for the future: an Afghan-led operation supported by the coalition, deeply engaged with the people."
PTI
