It was first built as a model farm belt that was irrigated by canals by the US government during the fifties, but has [...]]]> Marjah is an opium paradise found in the Helmand River valley where the reign of the Taliban is still quite strong creating the most insurgent den out of all the southern Afghanistan areas.

It was first built as a model farm belt that was irrigated by canals by the US government during the fifties, but has seen then become the target of the largest offensive since the original 2001 invasion in which the Taliban regime was ousted.

Saturday was the official launch date of the offensive, tagged Operation Mushtarak by the US in a strategy aimed at finally defeating the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.  The area of Marjah and the Helmand province contains about 125,000 people and has been out of control since 2001.

Although the area is quite fertile cropland, it is mostly composed of impoverished villages that farm livestock.

While the area could help provide plenty of food to the nation, instead it is one of the richest areas in the world when it comes to heroin and opium, which earns billions of dollars every year that is put to use by the insurgency.

The residents of the land are mostly from Pashtub tribes and are either jobless or generally poor.  Woman in the area are still restricted to keep purdah and are fully clothed in public and are often kept indoors.

Many people in the area are actually forced to grow poppies, a problem that has increased since the US Marines drove the Taliban out of other areas within the Helmand province.