Military says Operation Honest Soldier showing 'concrete success'

[Praxius]

CTV.ca | Operation Honest Soldier chasing out Taliban

Military says Operation Honest Soldier showing 'concrete success'

A new Canadian tactic to freeze Taliban militia movements in Afghanistan appears to be working, the military has said. Canadian-trained Afghan police took command of several police substations in the volatile Panjwaii and Zhari districts of Kandahar province this week as part of the latest offensive, dubbed "Operation Honest Soldier." It's meant to isolate the Taliban and cut them off from resupply and communications routes. By strategically placing five substations in key areas and staffing them 24 hours a day with Afghan national police, the Canadians have been able to seriously restrict Taliban movement, said Maj. Eric Landry, chief planner for the Canadian Forces. "What's happening right now is those operations have considerably disrupted the Taliban freedom of movement and their command control nodes, so right now we are having very concrete success," Landry said. Under the guidance of Canadian troops, Afghan police officers stationed there have reportedly been in better contact with locals in Kandahar province, and have been more receptive to taking community tips about suspected Taliban activity. Communities have also been quieter since the operation began this week, Landry said. "What we do is we force those [Taliban] leaders to leave the Zhari district, go to a more permissive area, where they can reorganize and maybe try a different strategy. But right now they are completely ineffective against our forces and the Afghan national army," Landry said. The Panjwaii and Zhari districts of Kandahar province are some of the most hard-fought areas in Afghanistan, and have been called the birthplace of the Taliban. While past operations have seen temporary success in chasing out the Taliban, the latest strategy is meant to keep the insurgents out permanently. A number of Canadian soldiers have died in the region, most recently Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, a Calgary reservist who was killed Monday in a mortar attack during the first days of the operation.

And some quotes from the CTV report:

The mission to take back control began in August with Operation Keeping Goodwill in the Zhari district, where Canadians have re-established four police substations. They tightened the noose with Honest Soldier, which started early last week when Charlie Company rolled into northern Panjwaii, southeast of Sangasar, and wrapped up on the weekend. Fighting was fierce and Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, a reservist from the King's Own Calgary Regiment, was killed in a mortar attack on the first day of the mission. Heavy fighting continued through the week as Canadians established another police substation in Panjwaii, along the Arghandab River. "They were surprised,'' said Maj. Stephane Masson, operations co-ordinator for the Canadian military in Afghanistan. "We tightened the circle and they had to fight. We saw signs of panic.'' The hope is that hardline Taliban, cut off from easy movement and resupply, will move out of the area. "It separates the hard-core fighters, who are there fighting for the cause, from the tier-two and tier-three fighters, who are there because they have to and because they're forced into the Taliban movement,'' Landry said. "Because the Taliban cannot operate freely in the district of Zhari, they have a hard time organizing different activities, different attacks against coalition forces and the Afghan National Army.'' Canadians fought and died to take control of these districts last year in Operation Medusa, the largest Canadian combat offensive since the Korean War. But insurgents regained control this past summer during the changeover of Canadian troops, when Afghan national security forces were left alone to defend the territory. Military officials now admit the Afghan forces weren't ready.

Funny thing is, I have no idea why they pulled out to allow the Taliban to come back in, in the first place.

Oh yeah.... no support from other NATO allies at the time to cover the reigon while re replaced soldiers at the front.... I forgot (Dutch, US and UK forces excluded from that comment.)

With any luck this will remain a strong strategy, now that the Afghan Army/Police are now more experienced.

[Rainbow]

Quote by: Praxius Funny thing is, I have no idea why they pulled out to allow the Taliban to come back in, in the first place.

Here, it is :
- not enough funds to restructure Afghanistan in variety of fundamental fields.

[Chancellor]

Notice: "What we do is we force those [Taliban] leaders to leave the Zhari district, go to a more permissive area, where they can reorganize and maybe try a different strategy. But right now they are completely ineffective against our forces and the Afghan national army," Landry said.

So, their goal is to chase the Taliban off to another area where they can operate more freely and, thus, be able to better organize and improve their strategy?

[Thanatos]

Quote by: Chancellor Notice: "What we do is we force those [Taliban] leaders to leave the Zhari district, go to a more permissive area, where they can reorganize and maybe try a different strategy. But right now they are completely ineffective against our forces and the Afghan national army," Landry said. So, their goal is to chase the Taliban off to another area where they can operate more freely and, thus, be able to better organize and improve their strategy?

Its guerrilla warfare. Choke the supply lines, confine the enemy, choke the supply lines again and eventually your enemy is hemmed in and then you can crush them. If they make the serious mistake of concentrating their forces too much in "safe" zones then one bombing run could turn the tide. They can't win in a straight up fight...

[Chancellor]

Quote by: Thanatos Its guerrilla warfare. Choke the supply lines, confine the enemy, choke the supply lines again and eventually your enemy is hemmed in and then you can crush them. If they make the serious mistake of concentrating their forces too much in "safe" zones then one bombing run could turn the tide. They can't win in a straight up fight...

A bombing run the Canadians will never make because they're such a nice people.

[Praxius]

Quote by: Chancellor A bombing run the Canadians will never make because they're such a nice people.

It's not that we're nice people, we just think of civilians first. If there are none, level the whole area and send them back to Allah.

But in response to them relocating to another area and buildup, it's not that easy as time goes on. The Afgan Army and Police forces are getting bigger and better trained/equipped, therefore more forces to cover more area.

We left the Afghan police and army in the spots we originally took over, but they were ill equipped and not trained enough, and got pushed back out.

Now we've experienced this, adapted, and now coming back, pushing them back, cutting them off, and then bigger and better trained forces will remain long term to keep those areas.

The more area we as the NATO forces and Afghan forces hold, the less areas for them to go, and eventually will have to be pushed back into the mountians and back over the Pakistan borders.

In Theory..... but we all know in war, theories don't always work out.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Praxius It's not that we're nice people, we just think of civilians first. If there are none, level the whole area and send them back to Allah.

I always thought it was "Bomb first, ask questions later."

But seriously, with armed soldiers around them, it shouldn't surprise anyone if "civilians" also take up arms, no matter which country the soldiers are from.

Grandpa h.