Marines muscle in on Taliban stronghold

[Vulture6]

Marines muscle in on Taliban stronghold

Wire reports
Posted : Friday May 2, 2008 10:26:06 EDT

GARMSER, Afghanistan — Airstrikes and artillery thundered through this southern Afghan town Thursday as 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.

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.

Groups of three and four Taliban open fire at the Marines with assault rifles or rockets, then flee. Sometimes they attempt infantry maneuvers, trying to draw the Marines in one direction with a feint, then attacking from another direction.

“They were tactically sound,” said Capt. John Moder, the commander of the Marine unit’s Charlie Company. “It shows that they’ve done it before, that they might have been trained.”

Moder estimates his men have killed 30 Taliban fighters. Maj. Tom Clinton, executive officer of the Marines’ infantry battalion, could not confirm Taliban casualties, but he said the Marines are getting reports that wounded Afghan men are seeking medical treatment in Helmand’s capital, Lashkar Gah.

So far, U.S. casualties have been relatively light. Through Thursday afternoon, no Marines had been killed in the operation, although two died last month when a roadside bomb hit their supply convoy.

Six Marines had been injured, none critically: One was shot in the foot, perhaps accidentally; one suffered a concussion from a Taliban rocket or mortar attack; one was bitten by a dog; one fell from a roof and broke an ankle; two broke their legs; and two more sprained their ankles.

The nagging injuries and 110-degree heat are sometimes a more immediate threat than the enemy itself, troops said.

“Imagine carrying 75 to 120 pounds of gear and playing a football game where each quarter lasts three hours,” said 1st Lt. Mark Matzke, 21, of Arlington, Va.

Keeping them supplied with water, MREs and ammunition is a full-time operation. From Camp Dwyer, a handpicked team of two dozen Marines runs convoys to infantrymen in the field.

“We wanted to be called ‘The Nomads’ but they gave us ‘Wagon Wheel’” instead, said Gunnery Sgt. Javier Duarte, 34, of Miami. Before every convoy, Duarte usually gives the Wagon Wheel team a profanity-laden pep talk, then introduces the chaplain for a prayer.

The Marines are moving south through the town, clearing a route from the northern tip of Garmser, where about 120 British soldiers are posted.

Many Afghan families have fled the town, and the local bazaar has been closed for months because of fighting. 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. 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,” said Staff Sgt. Tyree Adams, 29, 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 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 Gunnery Sgt. John Thompson, 33, Arnett, Okla.

Operation Azada Wosa — “Stay Free” in the local Pashto language — kicked off Monday and represents a new push by the U.S. military to retake territory that NATO troops have so far been unable to conquer and hold. The 2,400-strong 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is on its first mission since it started arriving here more than a month ago.


Paul Wiseman of USA Today and Jason Straziuso of The Associated Press contributed to this story.