NATO begins Afghan spring offensive

KABUL, Mar 6 (Reuters) NATO began its spring offensive against the Taliban today, launching its biggest offensive since the 2001 war targeting the rebels and drug lords.

The assault in southern Helmand province, the opium heartland of the world's top producer came as the Taliban said they had captured a British spy, and hundreds protested in an eastern city over the killing of several civilians by US troops.

Operation Achilles, which will eventually involve 4,500 NATO soldiers and 1,000 Afghans, began about dawn in Helmand.

''We consider this a major operation and I do not think you would be wrong if you were to characterise it as the start of ISAF's major operations for 2007,'' Colonel Tom Collins, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told reporters in Kabul.

The Taliban over-ran the key Helmand town of Musa Qala a month ago, ending a controversial truce, but the alliance says the main aim of Achilles is to allow reconstruction.

''It signifies the beginning of a planned offensive to bring security to northern Helmand and set the conditions for meaningful development that will fundamentally improve the quality of life for Afghans in the area,'' ISAF southern command chief Major-General Ton van Loon said.

BLOODY YEAR The open-ended operation is aimed largely at allowing the repair and expansion of the Kajaki dam hydroelectric facility.

''Operations will focus on improving security in areas where Taliban extremists, narco-traffickers and other elements are trying to destabilise the government,'' van Loon said.

NATO said one of its soldiers had been killed in combat today, but did not give the nationality.

More than 4,000 people died in fighting last year, the bloodiest since US-led forces ousted the Taliban in 2001.

''The Taliban talk a lot about their spring offensive. To me what you are going to see in the coming weeks will be the enemy reacting to the strategic initiative of the government of Afghanistan and the ISAF forces,'' Collins said.

The NATO offensive came as hundreds of people protested in the eastern city of Jalalabad, near Pakistan, over the killing of several civilians by US troops today.

At least 2,000 people blocked the highway between the city and Kabul, a major trade route to Pakistan, chanting ''Death to Americans!'', witnesses said.

They demanded strict action by the government against the Marines responsible, who opened fire after their convoy was attacked by a suicide bomber.

Officials say at least 10 civilians were killed and the New York-based Human Rights Watch says between eight and 16 died.

The US military will only say 16 people died in the suicide attack and subsequent shooting after militants opened fire.

''Suicide bombers in Afghanistan regularly pose as civilians, but that doesn't give coalition forces carte blanche to respond with indiscriminate fire,'' New York-based Human Rights Watch's Asia director, Brad Adams, said in a statement.

''The fact that the insurgents violate the laws of war doesn't absolve the US and its allies of the need to observe them.

The Afghan government has launched an inquiry, but previous such investigations by the government, NATO and US forces have done nothing more than confirm initial witness accounts.

Tomorrow, NATO forces also killed nine civilians -- five women, three children and an old man -- with a 2,000 pound bomb near Kabul after a post was attacked.

''We didn't know who was in that building, but we saw fighters move into that area who were legitimate targets,'' Collins said.

''The building was struck and as we all know unfortunately civilians were killed.'' Analysts say civilian deaths undermine support for foreign troops in a country where most of the population is seeing almost no reconstruction and development to lift living standards.

The Taliban dismissed Operation Achilles as routine and said NATO could not sustain a ground battle in Helmand.

''They will resort to bombing that will kill innocent people,'' spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said by satellite phone from a secret location. Earlier, he also said the Taliban had captured a British spy and two Afghan companions in the province.

''He was pretending to be a journalist, but when we investigated we found he's working for the British troops,'' he said. The identity of the three was unclear.

REUTERS MS RAI2030