Taliban militants are using women and children as living shields as they attempt to counter a major NATO and Afghan army offensive, the chief of the Afghan General Staff said on Wednesday.
Operation Moshtarak began on February 13 in the southern Helmand province.
General Bismillah Khan also said the biggest anti-Taliban operation in the war-ravaged central Asian country since 2001 was being hindered by the presence of large amounts of mines in the area.
NATO officials said 15 civilians had died in the operation, while Afghan human rights activists reported 19 civilian deaths.
The Taliban invited journalists on Wednesday to the southern Afghan town of Marjah to see the "shameful defeat" of Afghan and international forces.
In an email, the radical Islamic Taliban movement invited journalists to "see the situation with their own eyes and convey the facts to the people of the world."
KABUL, February 17 (RIA Novosti)
