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| Afghans 'try to flee battle zone' | Afghans 'try to flee battle zone' |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Improvised explosive devices are stopping civilians leaving an area where UK soldiers are to begin a huge operation, the defence secretary says. | Improvised explosive devices are stopping civilians leaving an area where UK soldiers are to begin a huge operation, the defence secretary says. |
| Operation Moshtarak is designed to force Taliban militants from the area surrounding the town of Marjah in Helmand province. | Operation Moshtarak is designed to force Taliban militants from the area surrounding the town of Marjah in Helmand province. |
| Bob Ainsworth told the Commons Defence Committee he wished to avoid any civilian casualties. | Bob Ainsworth told the Commons Defence Committee he wished to avoid any civilian casualties. |
| Thousands of coalition troops are involved in the operation. | Thousands of coalition troops are involved in the operation. |
| Mr Ainsworth said: "There is some evidence of people finding it difficult to leave, because of improvised explosive devices that have been planted and the dangers of the journeys involved. | Mr Ainsworth said: "There is some evidence of people finding it difficult to leave, because of improvised explosive devices that have been planted and the dangers of the journeys involved. |
| "We will try to assist in any way that we can to enable civilians to leave the area. That's not only allowing them through our own checkpoints, but trying to clear routes so they can get out." | "We will try to assist in any way that we can to enable civilians to leave the area. That's not only allowing them through our own checkpoints, but trying to clear routes so they can get out." |
| He told the committee that the aim of the operation was to bring security to the central Helmand valley. | He told the committee that the aim of the operation was to bring security to the central Helmand valley. |
| The Afghan national army, police and security forces were far more involved in this operation than any before, he said. | The Afghan national army, police and security forces were far more involved in this operation than any before, he said. |
| Codenamed Operation Moshtarak - which means "together" in the Dari language - it has been described as a "softening-up operation" to clear the Taliban from its remaining strongholds in the area. | Codenamed Operation Moshtarak - which means "together" in the Dari language - it has been described as a "softening-up operation" to clear the Taliban from its remaining strongholds in the area. |
| Up to 4,000 UK service personnel are expected to take part in the the offensive - with 15,000 coalition forces, including British, American and Afghan troops, in total due to be involved in the operation. | Up to 4,000 UK service personnel are expected to take part in the the offensive - with 15,000 coalition forces, including British, American and Afghan troops, in total due to be involved in the operation. |
| If the numbers are correct, it would dwarf the largest British military operation so far in Afghanistan - Operation Panther's Claw, which left 10 UK soldiers dead and many others seriously wounded. | If the numbers are correct, it would dwarf the largest British military operation so far in Afghanistan - Operation Panther's Claw, which left 10 UK soldiers dead and many others seriously wounded. |
| Mr Ainsworth said the operation had been announced in advance in a bid to give people the chance to leave the area before getting caught up in the fighting and therefore reduce the number of potential civilian casualties. | |
| He said: "The last thing we want to do is to go into an area and inflict unnecessary civilian casualties. One is too many." | |
| So far, 256 UK forces personnel have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001. | So far, 256 UK forces personnel have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001. |
| Success before surprise in Afghan operation Villages empty before Afghan push Ainsworth warns of war casualties | |
| Mr Ainsworth was also asked about the plans to reintegrate the Taliban in Afghanistan. | Mr Ainsworth was also asked about the plans to reintegrate the Taliban in Afghanistan. |
| He said President Hamid Karzai's government was making a real attempt to reach out to insurgents and that the international community believed there was "scope to bring the Taliban back into the fold of the body-politic" of civilised society in Afghanistan. | |
| However he said it was unlikely that "reconciliation" with Taliban leaders would be occurring anytime soon but the aim was to "peel off" insurgents who were motivated by local grievances rather than any "international jihadist agenda". | |
| "I don't think that there is a desire by the overwhelming majority of the leadership of the Taliban to reconcile. I think that may come, it will come in time, it will come if we are seen to make progress." | |
| He said the Afghan government had to be in a strong position to negotiate. | |
| Measures of success | |
| His evidence to the committee comes as Brigadier Simon Levy, commanding general of the Combined Training Advisory Group for the Army, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the challenges of training the Afghan troops for the operation. | His evidence to the committee comes as Brigadier Simon Levy, commanding general of the Combined Training Advisory Group for the Army, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the challenges of training the Afghan troops for the operation. |
| He said: "The quality of the soldiers is increasing all the time." | He said: "The quality of the soldiers is increasing all the time." |
| The soldiers were ready to work alongside the British forces and there would be a seamless transfer between what was done in the training establishment and what happened out in the field, he added. | The soldiers were ready to work alongside the British forces and there would be a seamless transfer between what was done in the training establishment and what happened out in the field, he added. |
| Speaking from Kabul, Lt Col Nick Ilich, who is also overseeing the training of Afghan soldiers, told the BBC what would be needed if the operation was to be a success. | |
| He said: "Success is when we have pushed the Taliban back, when the security forces have been able to clear the ground but more importantly hold it. | |
| "That's the crucial piece of information - the fact that we've now generated sufficient forces on the Afghan side to basically occupy the ground, and once we've cleared it they can occupy it so that the Taliban can't infiltrate back and therefore increase the area under government control." |