KABUL – An Afghan military official said on Wednesday that Taliban fighters were increasingly using civilians as "human shields" as Afghan and NATO forces press on with a major offensive in Helmand province. Afghan commander General Mohiudin Ghori said yesterday that Taliban fighters had been seen ordering women and children to stand on the roofs of houses, while the militants fire weapons around them. NATO commanders have ordered that civilians be protected during the offensive on the town of Marjah, a town of 80,000 and a former Taliban stronghold. Human rights group Amnesty International (HI) said thousands of Afghan civilians were "caught up in the fighting". NATO said 15 civilians had been killed since the operation began last Saturday. The international force has reported steady progress in clearing the town of militants, though the effort has been slowed by roadside bombs and insurgent snipers. Meanwhile, a senior United Nations (UN) officials in Afghanistan on Wednesday criticised NATO forces for what one referred to as “the militarisation of humanitarian aid”, and said UN agencies would not participate in the military's reconstruction strategy in Marjah as part of its current offensive there. “We are not part of that process, we do not want to be part of it,” said Robert Watkins, the deputy special representative of the secretary general, at a press conference attended by other officials to announce the United Nation's Humanitarian Action Plan for 2010. “We will not be part of that military strategy.”
