Marines dropped behind Taliban lines; NATO now controls key roads in Marjah but progress slow
By Alfred De Montesquiou, APThursday, February 18, 2010
US Marines airdropped into Taliban-held territory
MARJAH, Afghanistan — Elite Marine recon teams were dropped behind Taliban lines by helicopter Friday as the U.S.-led force escalated operations to break resistance in the besieged insurgent stronghold of Marjah.
As the major NATO offensive entered its seventh day, about two dozen Marines were inserted before dawn into an area where skilled Taliban marksmen are known to operate, an officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
Other squads of Marines and Afghans, marching south in a bid to link up with Marine outposts there and expand their territory, came under sniper fire and rocket attacks by midday. The rattle of machine-gun fire and the thud of mortars echoed nearby.
The Marjah offensive is the biggest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and a test of President Barack Obama’s strategy for reversing the rise of the Taliban while protecting civilians.
A NATO statement said troops were still meeting “some resistance” from insurgents who engage them in firefights, but homemade bombs remain the key threat to allied and Afghan forces.
At a London briefing, Maj. Gen. Gordon Messenger said the militant holdouts don’t threaten the overall offensive but will take time to clear out.
“The levels of resistance in these areas has increased but not beyond expectation. We expected after the enemy had time to catch its breath, they would up the level of resistance, and that’s happened,” he said.
Marine spokesman Lt. Josh Diddams reported that overall resistance was lighter Friday, but a few companies still engaged in firefights that lasted a few hours.
NATO said one service member died Friday in a small-arms fire attack. Six coalition troops were killed Thursday, NATO said, making it the deadliest day since the offensive began. The death toll so far is 12 NATO troops and one Afghan soldier. Britain’s Defense Ministry said two British soldiers were among those killed Thursday.
No precise figures on Taliban deaths have been released, but senior Marine officers say intelligence reports suggest more than 120 have died. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of U.S. Marines in Marjah, told The Associated Press on Thursday that allied forces had taken control of the main roads, bridges and government centers in the farming town of 80,000 people about 360 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul. But he noted increasingly accurate sniper fire from militants and strong intelligence on possible suicide bomb threats.
British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, NATO commander in southern Afghanistan, said he expects it could take another 30 days to secure Marjah.
As U.S. and Afghan troops moved south Friday, they continued to sweep through houses, searching for bombs and questioning residents.
One man came forward to the Marines and revealed a Taliban position a mile (1.6 kilometers) away. The man, who was not identified for security reasons, said he was angry because insurgents had earlier taken over his home.
He gave U.S. forces detailed information, saying more than a dozen Taliban fighters were waiting to ambush troops there. The position was rigged with dozens of homemade bombs and booby-traps, he said.
Other people interviewed said some Taliban fighters in the area were non-Afghan.
“Some of them are from here. Some are from Pakistan. Some are from other countries, but they don’t let us come close to them so I don’t know where they are from,” said opium poppy farmer Mohammad Jan, 35, a father of four.
Marines also uncovered a row of machine gun bunkers alongside a canal where they suspect enemy fighters had been firing on them the previous day.
Located at a crossroads, the five newly abandoned bunkers, camouflaged under a layer of mud, aimed out across an open field. In the near distance, large stones had been set up to act as machine gun sights.
Nearby, they found a fortified compound that appeared to be a Taliban field command, containing dozens of Taliban-issued ID cards and graduation diplomas from a training camp in southern Pakistan.
Outside of Marjah, U.S. and Afghan troops, backed by Stryker infantry vehicles, pushed into a section of mud-walled compounds that had been occupied by the Taliban in the Badula Qulp region, northeast of town.
Hit with small arms fire, the troops retaliated with machine guns and fired off a missile at a house where insurgents were believed to be hiding, and the militants quickly withdrew.
Brig. Gen. Mohiudin Ghori, who is in charge of Afghan troops in the offensive, said security responsibilities in a few sections of town, including the main bazaar, have been turned over to Afghan police, although they will continue to get assistance from Afghan soldiers.
A second group of Afghan police were dispatched to Marjah on Friday, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said. Altogether, 1,100 additional police will join the 400 police currently assigned to Marjah and Nad Ali district to the north, he said. Some 200 of them will focus on narcotics, he said.
Under NATO’s “clear, hold, build” strategy, the allies plan to secure the area and then rush in a civilian Afghan administration, restore public services and pour in aid to try to win the loyalty of the population in preventing the Taliban from returning.
Policeman Mohammad Lahaq Khanjer, from Kandahar, said he was proud to be chosen to help patrol town.
“We are coming to Marjah to provide security for the people and clear the area of militants,” he said. “I’m ready to serve Marjah’s people.”
Ghori said five suspected militants who had stashed Afghan army and police uniforms in their homes had been arrested. They were handed over to intelligence services, he said. Infiltration of police and army ranks by insurgents has been a constant concern.
In neighboring Kandahar province, four Afghan civilians were killed Friday evening when a vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the Dand district, according to district police chief, Ahmedullah Nazuk.
Associated Press writers Sylvia Hui in London, Rahim Faiez in Helmand province, Noor Khan in Kandahar and Tini Tran in Kabul contributed to this report.
Tags: Afghanistan, As-afghanistan, Asia, Barack Obama, Bomb Threats, Central Asia, Geography, Kabul, Kandahar, Marjah, Municipal Governments, North America, United States, War Casualties
