Anti-Taliban Push Begins in South

A bomb exploded on a bus Thursday, killing seven people riding to a coalition base for work, even as more than 10,000 Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces began a massive anti-Taliban operation in the south.

Military forces are “moving forward with large-scale operations” in four southern provinces -- Oruzgan, Helmand, Kandahar and Zabol -- the U.S. military said in a statement. It is being called the largest offensive since the invasion in 2001 that toppled the Taliban regime.

As the offensive began, however, militants continued their attacks.

A bomb hidden in a bus headed to a coalition base in Kandahar city exploded during the morning rush hour, killing seven people and injuring 17, coalition officials and the Interior Ministry said.

A military spokesman, Canadian Maj. Quentin Innis, blamed the attack on Taliban militants and said it clearly targeted Afghans working for the U.S.-led coalition. Among the dead were interpreters and others working at the air base, Afghan officials said.

“It’s the first time Afghans working here have been deliberately targeted by the Taliban. These are local guys trying to support their families,” he said.

Bakery owner Amidullah said he was working in his shop when the explosion went off in front of him.

“When I came out of the shop, I saw the bus totally destroyed on the ground. I saw people dead and wounded lying on the ground,” he said.

The military offensive, dubbed Operation Mountain Thrust, is part of a major push against Taliban fighters responsible for a spate of ambushes and suicide attacks against coalition forces and Afghan authorities in the southern provinces in recent months.

The operation was also timed to coincide with the transfer of command in the south from the U.S.-led coalition to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, to be completed next month.

Troops on Wednesday built sand barriers and guard outposts around a small forward operating base in the district of Musa Qala in Helmand. Others fired rounds from 119-millimeter howitzers from the base’s perimeter into the desert expanse.

“We do it so they know it’s here and they know it could be pretty bad for them,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Chris Toner, commanding officer at the base, 180 miles from the nearest permanent base in Kandahar.

“This terrain up here favors the defender. I’m sure they know how many vehicles we have here, that we have artillery here, but that’s OK -- I know what they know.”