NATO forces to keep pressure on taliban throughout the winter

Just keep killing them Canadian Press

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canadian and international troops plan on a continued campaign of harassing the Taliban in southern Afghanistan during what traditionally have been the slow winter months.

The Taliban generally use the winter to reload for the busy fighting season which begins in the spring.

Their fighters are ill-equipped to handle Afghanistan's harsh winter climate and often members of the leadership return home to their families in the larger cities or in Pakistan.

But that will not be the case this year.

Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, commander of Task Force Kandahar, is taking the approach that the best defence is a good offence.

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The latest Canadian-led operation in the Zhari district involved a battalion of British Royal Commandos, a mechanized brigade from the Royal Canadian Regiment and troops from the 22 Infantry from the United States.

"They went into an area where the insurgents typically enjoy partial or full freedom of movement. The method in which we deployed forces in the area essentially overwhelmed the insurgency too," explained Canadian Maj. Fraser Auld, the operations officer for Task Force Kandahar.

"We know it took them by surprise and we know the insurgents were unable to cope with the synchronized approach in this operation."