thedrifter
05-02-08, 07:51 AM
Airstrikes boom through southern Afghan town as Marines move through
AP - Friday, May 2
By JASON STRAZIUSO,Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, May 2
GARMSER, Afghanistan - Airstrikes and artillery thundered through this southern Afghan town on Thursday as U.S. Marines moved through the area's bountiful poppy fields in an effort to clear the region of its Taliban stranglehold.
Cobra helicopters concentrated rounds of fire on a mud house hideout at daybreak before a Harrier jet dropped two bombs. Artillery rattled the countryside at nightfall after militants fired mortars on U.S. positions.
The assault in Helmand province is the first major task undertaken by the 2,400 Marines in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit since their arrival in Afghanistan last month. Their mission in Helmand province _ the world's largest opium poppy producing region _ is the farthest south U.S. forces have operated in years.
The Marines are moving south through the town, clearing a route from the northern tip of Garmser where about 120 British soldiers are posted. Everything below that line is considered militant territory.
Many Afghan families have fled the town, and the main bazaar has long been closed because of the Taliban threat. But dozens of others _ mostly Afghan men _ have stayed behind to work in the poppy fields now producing the sticky brown resin that will eventually be turned into heroin.
Capt. Charles O'Neill, a company commander, hunkered down in a barnyard and turned a small, mud-brick house into his headquarters. His unit called in artillery in darkness Thursday after enemy forces fired mortars at his troops.
"We'd been receiving indirect fire in this area since we got here about three days ago," said O'Neill, 33, of Euclid, Ohio. "We receive it sometimes in the afternoon and sometimes in the early evening, and it seemed like they were gradually what we call bracketing, getting it closer to the target."
O'Neill said he didn't expect any more mortar attacks after a U.S. artillery team stationed outside town sent shock waves through the countryside during a 15-minute barrage. The Marines have been taking sporadic gunfire since their daybreak assault into Garmser on Tuesday. Helicopters patrolled the skies all day Thursday.
Helmand province is the world's largest opium poppy growing region and has been a flashpoint of the increasingly violent insurgency in the last two years. British troops _ who are responsible for Helmand _ have faced fierce battles in the north end of Helmand.
The Garmser region is filled with poppy fields, but the Marines are not eradicating any poppies, something they have stressed to Afghan farmers who rely on the cash crop for their livelihoods.
Marines have established a checkpoint near where Afghan farmers walk out to their fields. As about 10 men moved through, the troops belatedly identified two who they thought could be Taliban scouts because they were clean and much younger than the farmers.
"It's the world's greatest guessing game," Staff Sgt. Tyree Adams, 29, said after the two passed by. Separating insurgents from innocent Afghans is one of the toughest tasks for U.S. and NATO troops here.
Marines said Taliban scouts were believed to be operating throughout Garmser. One suspected militant wielding a pair of binoculars was shot on Thursday. Three suspected scouts were spotted at dusk on top of a roof, but Marines didn't fire at them because they weren't certain.
O'Neill's men are operating in a dirty backyard filled with the sounds and smells of a typical farm. When they first arrived they shared space with two cattle, several sheep, a goat and chickens. The animals' owner came back later to claim the animals but said the Marines could use his compound.
"He wasn't too upset to see us here, especially when he saw his animals were still alive," said Gunny Sgt. John Thompson, 33, Arnett, Oklahoma. "They'd kind of taken to us."
Most U.S. troops operate in the east, along the border with Pakistan, but Britain _ with 7,500 troops _ and Canada _ with 2,500 troops in neighboring Kandahar province _ have not had enough manpower to tame the south.
Many of the men in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit served in Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province in western Iraq in 2006 and 2007. The vast region was once al-Qaida's Iraqi stronghold before the militants were pushed out in early 2007.
More than 8,000 people died in insurgency-related violence last year, and militants set off more than 140 suicide bombs. Taliban fighters have been increasingly relying on roadside bombs and suicide attacks after being routed in force-on-force battles in the past.
Ellie
AP - Friday, May 2
By JASON STRAZIUSO,Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, May 2
GARMSER, Afghanistan - Airstrikes and artillery thundered through this southern Afghan town on Thursday as U.S. Marines moved through the area's bountiful poppy fields in an effort to clear the region of its Taliban stranglehold.
Cobra helicopters concentrated rounds of fire on a mud house hideout at daybreak before a Harrier jet dropped two bombs. Artillery rattled the countryside at nightfall after militants fired mortars on U.S. positions.
The assault in Helmand province is the first major task undertaken by the 2,400 Marines in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit since their arrival in Afghanistan last month. Their mission in Helmand province _ the world's largest opium poppy producing region _ is the farthest south U.S. forces have operated in years.
The Marines are moving south through the town, clearing a route from the northern tip of Garmser where about 120 British soldiers are posted. Everything below that line is considered militant territory.
Many Afghan families have fled the town, and the main bazaar has long been closed because of the Taliban threat. But dozens of others _ mostly Afghan men _ have stayed behind to work in the poppy fields now producing the sticky brown resin that will eventually be turned into heroin.
Capt. Charles O'Neill, a company commander, hunkered down in a barnyard and turned a small, mud-brick house into his headquarters. His unit called in artillery in darkness Thursday after enemy forces fired mortars at his troops.
"We'd been receiving indirect fire in this area since we got here about three days ago," said O'Neill, 33, of Euclid, Ohio. "We receive it sometimes in the afternoon and sometimes in the early evening, and it seemed like they were gradually what we call bracketing, getting it closer to the target."
O'Neill said he didn't expect any more mortar attacks after a U.S. artillery team stationed outside town sent shock waves through the countryside during a 15-minute barrage. The Marines have been taking sporadic gunfire since their daybreak assault into Garmser on Tuesday. Helicopters patrolled the skies all day Thursday.
Helmand province is the world's largest opium poppy growing region and has been a flashpoint of the increasingly violent insurgency in the last two years. British troops _ who are responsible for Helmand _ have faced fierce battles in the north end of Helmand.
The Garmser region is filled with poppy fields, but the Marines are not eradicating any poppies, something they have stressed to Afghan farmers who rely on the cash crop for their livelihoods.
Marines have established a checkpoint near where Afghan farmers walk out to their fields. As about 10 men moved through, the troops belatedly identified two who they thought could be Taliban scouts because they were clean and much younger than the farmers.
"It's the world's greatest guessing game," Staff Sgt. Tyree Adams, 29, said after the two passed by. Separating insurgents from innocent Afghans is one of the toughest tasks for U.S. and NATO troops here.
Marines said Taliban scouts were believed to be operating throughout Garmser. One suspected militant wielding a pair of binoculars was shot on Thursday. Three suspected scouts were spotted at dusk on top of a roof, but Marines didn't fire at them because they weren't certain.
O'Neill's men are operating in a dirty backyard filled with the sounds and smells of a typical farm. When they first arrived they shared space with two cattle, several sheep, a goat and chickens. The animals' owner came back later to claim the animals but said the Marines could use his compound.
"He wasn't too upset to see us here, especially when he saw his animals were still alive," said Gunny Sgt. John Thompson, 33, Arnett, Oklahoma. "They'd kind of taken to us."
Most U.S. troops operate in the east, along the border with Pakistan, but Britain _ with 7,500 troops _ and Canada _ with 2,500 troops in neighboring Kandahar province _ have not had enough manpower to tame the south.
Many of the men in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit served in Ramadi, the capital of the Anbar province in western Iraq in 2006 and 2007. The vast region was once al-Qaida's Iraqi stronghold before the militants were pushed out in early 2007.
More than 8,000 people died in insurgency-related violence last year, and militants set off more than 140 suicide bombs. Taliban fighters have been increasingly relying on roadside bombs and suicide attacks after being routed in force-on-force battles in the past.
Ellie