Jan.13, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - US military claims victory in the strategic province of Helmand in Afghanistan. US Marine commanders say their forces have driven out Taliban fighters from most of the towns and villages in the strategic Helmand province, paving the way for start of reconstruction projects in the area.

 

‘They've taken on the Taliban, the insurgency, right in the heartland and they've defeated them, ’said Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Mills in a report by USA Today.

 

Commanders warned that the region in and around the Helmand would continue to be a dangerous place because Taliban in the next-door Kandahar province is able to  mount attacks at any time. While US military officials claim their main goal is to begin reconstruction projects in the region, local Afghan experts say the US has other plans through taking over the Helmand province.

 

Vahid Mojdeh an Afghanistan political analyst told Iran’s Fars News Agency on Tuesday, that the United States has deployed its forces near the Iranian borders. He said, ‘There are signs of US forces' intention of nearing the Iranian borders gradually.’

 

Mojdeh likened the Helmand province offensive to an earlier troops deployment in Nimrooz province in southwestern Afghanistan, despite the fact that the Nimrooz enjoyed relative calm in comparison with other Afghan provinces. The Afghan analysts believed the presence of US forces near the Iranian border would pose little security risk since Tehran is more than ready to defend itself against possible aggression from that direction.

 

The NATO and US forces already deployed over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan and they plan to boost the numbers by 30,000 more troops by the end of 2010. In addition, there are 100,000 troops in Afghanistan as private security contractors.