U.S. and Afghan troops have met little resistance since Operation Cobra’s Anger was launched Friday to disrupt Taliban supply and communications lines in the strategic Now Zad Valley of Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan, Marine officials said.

About 1,000 Marines and 150 Afghan troops are taking part in the offensive, which includes hundreds of Marines dropped behind Taliban lines. A larger Marine force pushed north from the Marines’ main base.

“We’re not taking for granted the low level of contact,” Marine spokesman Maj. William Pelletier said Saturday. “Just because it’s quiet now doesn’t mean it will be in 24 hours. Part of the operation is to have a disruptive effect on the Taliban resupply activities.” No coalition casualties have been reported.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, top U.S. general in charge of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, said Friday the offensive is part of preparations for the arrival of 30,000 U.S. reinforcements.

– Associated Press

PHILIPPINES

Martial law declared in area of massacre

The Philippine president imposed martial law Saturday on a southern province in which 57 people were killed in a political massacre last month, and security forces detained members of a powerful clan accused of plotting the attack and fomenting a rebellion.

It was the first time that martial rule has been declared in the country since the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos imposed it more than three decades ago. With memories of abuses from that time still fresh, opposition politicians and human rights groups questioned President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s action, saying she had overreacted to a police problem.