US Marines have begun moving in to capture a town from Taliban
militants in the southern province of Helmand, their first large
operation in Afghanistan since arriving to reinforce NATO troops,
the force said.
The United States, frustrated by the failure of some European NATO
allies to come up with combat troops to help out in fighting in
southern Afghanistan, sent a force of 3,200 Marines to bolster
British, Canadian and Dutch troops there earlier this month.
The US Marines' drive into the town of Garmsir in Helmand, the
world' biggest opium producing region and a hotbed of insurgent
activity, is the first significant fruit of that move.
"We launched operations about nine hours ago and right now Marines
are securing routes to the district centre," said US Marines
spokeswoman Captain Kelly Frushour.
"In the end, we're supposed to secure the district centre to enable
the extension of the government of the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan," she said.
"We don't have a set time limit. It's going to go on until we've
accomplished what we're supposed to accomplish."
British troops began deploying to Helmand in March 2006, before
which only a small group of US forces had been present in the vast,
mostly desert province and Taliban militants had taken control of
most of the towns and villages.
Since then, the British force has more than doubled to more than
7,000 soldiers, and helped by Afghan and other NATO troops, have
taken control of most of the towns along the Helmand River which
brings life to a strip of land through the desert.
The town of Garmsir in the south of Helmand has been the scene of
frequent raids by Afghan, British and US troops, but has hitherto
eluded capture.
Of the 3,200 US Marines sent to Afghanistan, some 800 are involved
in training Afghan security forces, seen by the Afghan government
and the international community as the long-term key to bringing
peace to Afghanistan.
The remaining 2,400 Marines are a highly mobile force which ISAF
can rapidly deploy wherever they are needed.
Currently, "a large percentage of them are forward deployed into
Helmand," Frushour said.
