KABUL, Afghanistan - February 16, 2010 - Coalition forces continued to advance into Taliban-held areas in the violent southern Afghan province of Helmand yesterday on the third day of a major offensive aimed at breaking the insurgents' control over hundreds of thousands of local people.
However, roadside bombs, teams of snipers and pockets of resistance forced some units to stop short of key objectives and the reports of progress were overshadowed by the deaths of 20 civilians.
Fifteen of these deaths came in Marjah, where the biggest offensive undertaken by western and Afghan forces in the nine-year war was launched on Saturday with Operation Moshtarak ("togetherness" in the local language of Dari).
The British prime minister, Gordon Brown, said that troops were doing their best to make sure civilians were not killed, but the death toll continued to climb.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said three locals had died in separate incidents last night. One of the dead was caught in crossfire while the other two approached soldiers who feared they were insurgents. Twelve people, including six children, died in an artillery strike on Sunday. Use of the weapons systems responsible for the error had been suspended, according to coalition commanders in Afghanistan.
However, roadside bombs, teams of snipers and pockets of resistance forced some units to stop short of key objectives and the reports of progress were overshadowed by the deaths of 20 civilians.
Fifteen of these deaths came in Marjah, where the biggest offensive undertaken by western and Afghan forces in the nine-year war was launched on Saturday with Operation Moshtarak ("togetherness" in the local language of Dari).
The British prime minister, Gordon Brown, said that troops were doing their best to make sure civilians were not killed, but the death toll continued to climb.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said three locals had died in separate incidents last night. One of the dead was caught in crossfire while the other two approached soldiers who feared they were insurgents. Twelve people, including six children, died in an artillery strike on Sunday. Use of the weapons systems responsible for the error had been suspended, according to coalition commanders in Afghanistan.