Battle of Marjah, Feb. 2010

[DisturbedPervert]

Nice photos citizen k, I like the inclusion of them with the articles

[citizen k]

US Marines, Afghan troops attack Taliban-held town
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU and CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press


NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan – Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines and Afghan troops swooped down on the Taliban-held town of Marjah before dawn Saturday, launching a long-expected attack to re-establish government control and undermine support for militants in their southern heartland.

The assault on Marjah is the biggest offensive since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan and will serve as a major test of a new NATO strategy focusing on protecting civilians. The attack is also the first major combat operation since President Barack Obama ordered 30,000 U.S. reinforcements here in December to try to turn the tide of the war .

To the north of Marjah, British, American and Canadian forces struck elsewhere in the Nad Ali district in a push to break Taliban power in Helmand province, one of the major battlefields of the war.

Marine commanders say they expect between 400 to 1,000 insurgents — including more than 100 foreign fighters — to be holed up in Marjah, a town of 80,000 people in Helmand province. Marjah is the biggest southern town under Taliban control and the linchpin of the militants' logistical and opium-smuggling network.

"The first wave of choppers has landed inside Marjah. The operation has begun," said Capt. Joshua Winfrey, commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, which was at the forefront of the attack.

Several hundred U.S. Marines and some Afghan troops were in the first wave, flying over minefields the militants are believed to have planted around the town, 360 miles (610 kilometers) southwest of Kabul.

The operation, codenamed "Moshtarak," or Together, was described as the biggest joint operation of the Afghan war. Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, says 15,000 troops were involved, including some 7,500 troops fighting in Marjah.

The helicopter assault was preceded by illumination flares fired over the town about 2 a.m. In the pitch darkness of a moonless night, the roar of helicopters could be heard overhead, flying in assault troops from multiple locations.

The white flash of Hellfire and Tow missiles could be seen exploding over the town as flares illuminated the darkness to help assault troops spot targets.

Once the town is secured, NATO hopes to rush in aid and restore public services in a bid to win support among the estimated 125,000 people who live in Marjah and surrounding villages. The Afghans' ability to restore those services is crucial to the success of the operation and to prevent the Taliban from returning.

Tribal elders have pleaded for NATO to finish the operation quickly and spare civilians — an appeal that offers some hope the townspeople will cooperate with Afghan and international forces once the Taliban are gone.

At the Pentagon, a senior U.S. official said Afghan President Hamid Karzai had signed off on the attack.

Another defense official said Karzai was informed of planning for the operation well in advance. The official said it marked a first in terms of both sharing information prior to the attack and planning collaboration with the Afghan government.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because there were not authorized to speak publicly.

The second official said the number of Afghan security forces in the district have roughly doubled since Obama's first infusion of some 10,000 Marines in southern Afghanistan last year.

The Marjah offensive involves close combat in extremely difficult terrain, that official said. A close grid of wide canals dug by the United States as an aid project decades ago make the territory a particularly rich agricultural prize but complicate the advance of U.S. forces.

On the eve of the attack, cars and trucks jammed the main road out of Marjah on Friday as hundreds of civilians defied militant orders and fled the area. For weeks, U.S. commanders had signaled their intention to attack Marjah in hopes that civilians would seek shelter.

Residents told The Associated Press by telephone this week that Taliban fighters were preventing them from leaving, warning the roads were planted with land mines to slow the NATO advance.

Still, many people fled anyway for the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, 20 miles (30 kilometers) to the northeast. They told journalists they had to leave quickly and secretly to avoid recrimination from Taliban commanders.

Some said they slipped out of town when Taliban commanders weren't watching.

"We were not allowed to come here. We haven't brought any of our belongings. We just tried to get ourselves out," said Bibi Gul, an elderly woman in a black headscarf who arrived in nearby Lashkar Gah with three of her sons. She left three more sons behind in Marjah.

Police searched vehicles for any signs of militants, in one case prodding bales of cotton with a metal rod in search of hidden weapons.

"They don't allow families to leave," Marjah resident Qari Mohammad Nabi said of the Taliban. "The families can only leave the village when they are not seen leaving."

Provincial spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said about 450 families — an estimated 2,700 people — had already sought refuge in Lashkar Gah. Most moved in with relatives but more than 100 were being sheltered by the government, he said.

Ahmadi said the local government was prepared to shelter 7,000 families in nearby towns, providing them with food, blankets and dishes.

In advance of the attack, Afghan officials urged community leaders in Marjah to use their influence to persuade the Taliban to lay down their weapons and avoid a bloodbath. In return, the officials promised to improve the lives of the people there.

During a meeting Thursday, Helmand's governor, Gulab Mangal, urged tribal elders from the town to "use any avenue you have, direct or indirect, to tell the Taliban who don't want to fight, that they can join with us," according to the chief of Helmand's provincial council, Mohammad Anwar Khan.

For their part, the elders begged for limited use of airstrikes because of the risk of civilian deaths, Khan said Friday.

Another of the elders at the meeting, Mohammad Karim Khan, said he would not dare approach the Taliban and tell them to give up their guns to the government.

"We can't talk to the Taliban. We are farmers and poor people and we are not involved in these things like the politicians are," said Khan, who is not related to the provincial council chief.

Instead, a group of 34 elders sent a letter Friday to the provincial government urging NATO forces to finish the operation in Marjah quickly and avoid harming civilians. Abdul Hai Agha, an elder from Marjah, said local people were frightened and feared they would not be cared for after the Taliban are gone.

"We said in this letter that if you are doing this operation in Marjah, do it quickly," Agha told the AP by phone from the town.

The fact that the elders did not demand U.S. and Afghan troops call off the operation offered a glimmer of hope the townspeople will cooperate with the pro-government forces — if the Afghan leadership is able to fulfill its promises of a better life without the Taliban.

U.S. officials have long complained that Afghan government corruption and inefficiency have alienated millions of Afghans and paved the way for the revival of the militant group after it was driven from power in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

One of the main drafters of the letter to government officials said he and others had been reaching out to local Taliban commanders.

"We have talked to some of the Taliban over the phone and we have told them: 'This is your country. Don't create problems for your fellow Afghans and don't go on a suicide mission,'" said Abdul Rehman Jan, an elder who lives in Lashkar Gah.

However, Jan said most of the Afghan Taliban have already fled the area. Militant commanders from the Middle East or Pakistan have stayed on "and they want to fight," he said.



Associated Press writers Noor Khan in Kandahar, Christopher Torchia outside Marjah, Amir Shah in Kabul, and Anne Gearan and Anne Flaherty in Washington contributed to this report.

US Marines prepare to fire a mortar round as they battle Taliban militants in Marjah on February 11. US-led troops have dropped leaflets and broadcast radio messages warning Afghans not to shelter the Taliban as they prepared to assault a bastion of the insurgency.                                          (AFP/Patrick Baz)



U.S. 1st Lt. Daniel Hickok, from Puyallup, WA, 24, smokes his pipe, next to Pfc. Colin Wells from Los Angeles, both of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division in an outpost west of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Friday, Feb. 12, 2010. This unit is operating in support of a planned U.S. Marine offensive against the Taliban in Marjah area.
(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

[citizen k]

U.S. Marines board Sea Stallion helicopters en route to an air assault against the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, at a Forward Operating Base, south of Marjah, in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, in the early hours of Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)






British soldiers from the First Battalion The Royal Welsh mobilize for Operation Moshtarak at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, February 13, 2010.
REUTERS/SSgt Will Craig/The British Army




An Australian soldier takes position during a military operation in southern Afghanistan. For the first time, Afghan soldiers are involved shoulder-to-shoulder with the international troops at the tip of the spear as they bring their fight to insurgents holding sway over the Marjah district of Helmand province.
(AFP/File/Deshakalyan Chowdhury)

[Martinus]

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Sounds fabulous.

One more snide comment out of you about the Princess Patricia's and I will hound you until you leave leave languish, then I will hound you until you leave the internet and then I will hound you until....

Well you get the picture.

"Princess Patricia of the Canadian Infantry" sounds only slightly less gay than "Priscilla Queen of the Desert". Deal with it.

[CountDeMoney]

I can't help but be reminded of big search and destroy operations in Vietnam.

The goal isn't to search and destroy though.

It damned well better be.

[Jaron]

Maybe its hope and change?

[Barrister]

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Sounds fabulous.

One more snide comment out of you about the Princess Patricia's and I will hound you until you leave leave languish, then I will hound you until you leave the internet and then I will hound you until....

Well you get the picture.

"Princess Patricia of the Canadian Infantry" sounds only slightly less gay than "Priscilla Queen of the Desert". Deal with it.

Good thing their name is Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and not Princess Patricia of the Canadian Infantry, then.

[Viking]

Yet, it is still fucking Bullshit that they are before the Vandoo's in order of preference.

Why do you think that?

Because the Vandoo has Battalions older then the Patricia's. Sure, in it's current from Patricia is 2 month older then the 22e but the 22e sports Battallions from the 1860s.

Plus regular Quebecism.

The oldest? Here are some pictures from the early days



Edit: Yes, I'm going to hell.

[Razgovory]

Please don't post that here.

[Viking]

Please don't post that here.

Until the next gay soldier thread then.

[garbon]

That was odd.

[Grey Fox]

and totally uncanadian.

[DisturbedPervert]

[Mr.Penguin]

U.S. Marines from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, protect an Afghan man and his child after Taliban fighters opened fire at them in the town of Marjah, in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, February 13, 2010. U.S.-led NATO troops launched a crucial offensive on Saturday against the Taliban's last big stronghold in Afghanistan's most violent province and were quickly thrown into a firefight with the militants.

[citizen k]

Bombs slow US advance in Taliban-held Afghan town
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press


MARJAH, Afghanistan – Bombs and booby traps slowed the advance of thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers moving Saturday through the Taliban-controlled town of Marjah — NATO's most ambitious effort yet to break the militants' grip over their southern heartland.

NATO said it hoped to secure the area in days, set up a local government and rush in development aid in a first test of the new U.S. strategy for turning the tide of the eight-year war. The offensive is the largest since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

The Taliban appeared to have scattered in the face of overwhelming force, possibly waiting to regroup and stage attacks later to foil the alliance's plan to stabilize the area and expand Afghan government control in the volatile south.

NATO said two of its soldiers were killed in the first day of the operation — one American and one Briton, according to military officials in their countries. Afghan authorities said at least 20 insurgents were killed.

More than 30 transport helicopters ferried troops into the heart of Marjah before dawn Saturday, while British, Afghan and U.S. troops fanned out across the Nad Ali district to the north of the mudbrick town, long a stronghold of the Taliban.

Maj. Gen. Gordon Messenger told reporters in London that British forces "have successfully secured the area militarily" with only sporadic resistance from Taliban forces. A Taliban spokesman insisted their forces still controlled the town.

In Marjah, Marines and Afghan troops faced little armed resistance. But their advance through the town was impeded by countless land mines, homemade bombs and booby-traps littering the area.

Throughout the day, Marine ordnance teams blew up bombs where they were found, setting off huge explosions that reverberated through the dusty streets.

The bridge over the canal into Marjah from the north was rigged with so many explosives that Marines erected temporary bridges to cross into the town.

"It's just got to be a very slow and deliberate process," said Capt. Joshua Winfrey of Stillwater, Okla., a Marine company commander.

Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, said U.S. troops fought gunbattles in at least four areas of the town, including the western suburb of Sistani where India Company faced "some intense fighting."

To the east, the battalion's Kilo Company was inserted into the town by helicopter without meeting resistance but was then "significantly engaged" as the Marines fanned out from the landing zone, Christmas said.

Marine commanders had said they expected between 400 and 1,000 insurgents — including more than 100 foreign fighters — to be holed up in Marjah, a town of 80,000 people which is the linchpin of the militants' logistical and opium-smuggling network in the south.

Shopkeeper Abdul Kader, 44, said seven or eight Taliban fighters, who had been holding the position where the Marines crossed over, had fled in the middle of the night. He said he was angry at the insurgents for having planted bombs and mines all around his neighborhood.

"They left with their motorcycles and their guns. They went deeper into town," he said as Marines and Afghan troops searched a poppy field next to his house. "We can't even walk out of our own houses."

Saturday's ground assault followed several hours after the first wave of helicopters flew troops over the mine fields into the center of town before dawn. Helicopter gunships fired missiles at Taliban tunnels and bunkers while flares illuminated the night sky so pilots could see their landing zones.

The offensive, code-named "Moshtarak," or "Together," was described as the biggest joint operation of the Afghan war, with 15,000 troops involved, including some 7,500 in Marjah itself. The government says Afghan soldiers make up at least half of the offensive's force.

Elsewhere in the south, three U.S. soldiers were killed by a bomb in an attack unrelated to the operation, NATO said.

Once Marjah is secured, NATO hopes to quickly deliver aid and provide public services in a bid to win support among the estimated 125,000 people who live in the town and surrounding villages. The Afghans' ability to restore those services is crucial to the success of the operation and in preventing the Taliban from returning.

Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, the top NATO commander in the south, said coalition forces hope to install an Afghan government presence within the next few days, bringing health care, education, electricity and other public services to win the allegiance of the townspeople.

Teams of international development workers and Afghan officials are ready to enter the area as soon as security permits. A deputy district chief has already been appointed for Marjah and government teams have drawn up maps of where schools, clinics and mosques should be built.

Some officials were more cautious about the speed with which government can be installed.

"I can't yet say how long it will take for this military phase to get to the point where we can bring in the civilian support from the Afghan government. We hope that will happen quickly," NATO's civilian chief, Mark Sedwill, said in Kabul.

Sedwill said a key part of establishing government in Marjah will be a series of meetings with tribal elders to hear their concerns much like two meetings that preceded the offensive.

Tribal elders have pleaded with NATO to finish the operation quickly and spare civilians — an appeal that offers some hope the townspeople will cooperate with Afghan and international forces once the Taliban are gone.

Still, the town's residents have displayed few signs of rushing to welcome the attack force.

"The elders are telling people to stay behind the front doors and keep them bolted," Carter said. "Once people feel more secure and they realize there is government present on the ground, they will come out and tell us where the IEDs are."



Associated Press writers Noor Khan in Kandahar, Rahim Faiez and Heidi Vogt in Kabul, Stephen Braun and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

Taliban fighters are airborne in a Black hawk helicopter on a U.S. Army medevac mission, as flight medics attend to two wounded Taliban fighters captured after a firefight, according to the Marines on the ground, over Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Saturday Feb. 13, 2010. Aero-medical crews of Task Force Pegasus are positioned throughout southern Afghanistan.
(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)



U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment and Marine engineers make camp for the night in a room at a gas station after entering the town of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Saturday Feb. 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)





U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment carry a bridge to set up across a canal as they enter Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010.
(AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)