They must've thought we were kidding...[Al Arabiya Latest] People living on the front line of a major U.S.-led offensive against Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan are trapped in their homes with little access to food and health care, rights groups say.
Hundreds more who fled the area before fighting began over a week ago are receiving little help in harsh winter conditions, they add.
I thought The Brutal Afghan Winter™ was only supposed to screw us up?
"We are seriously worried about the safety of civilians, especially in the Marjah area," said Ajmal Samadi, head of the independent group Afghan Rights Monitor (ARM).
"People who are ill cannot get to hospitals, and others cannot bring them medicines. They cannot get food, or even go outside to look after their farms."
He added that food prices were rising due to the assault and people with medical needs -- from war wounds to pregnancy -- were largely unable to get treatment.
The assault on the Marjah and Nad Ali districts of Helmand province launched on Feb. 13 is being held up by snipers and innumerable crude bombs planted by Taliban fighters, commanders say.
The aim of the operation, dubbed Mushtarak (Together), is to drive Taliban from the area in the central Helmand River valley, where they have held sway with drug traffickers for at least two years.
The Afghan government aims firstly to re-establish sovereignty, then provide security, clinics, schools and jobs.
Mushtarak is a test of U.S. President Barack Obama's new counter-insurgency strategy, aimed at winning the trust of the population and neutralizing the Taliban.