By Xinhua,
Beijing : The first major American operation in Afghanistan in several years began Tuesday when U.S. Marines in helicopters and Humvees swarmed a Taliban-held town in Helmand, southern Afghanistan’s most violent province.
Several hundred Marines pushed into the town of Garmser in predawn light, stretching NATO’s presence into an area littered with poppy fields and classified as Taliban territory. U.S. commanders say Taliban fighters have been expecting an assault and have been setting up improvised explosive devices in response.
The assault in Helmand province — backed by U.S. artillery and fighter aircraft — is the first major task undertaken by the 2,300 Marines in the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which arrived last month from Camp Lejuene, North Carolina for a seven-month deployment. Another 1,200 Marines arrived to train Afghan police.
Maj. Tom Clinton, the American commander at Forward Operating Base Dwyer, a British outpost 10 miles west of Garmser, said the Taliban had undoubtedly seen the Marines moving into the area in recent days. But he said the fact that the Marines were assaulting the town by helicopter and were moving through by foot was likely a surprise.
“There’s all kinds of reports of (Taliban) commanders telling their guys to grab their stuff and get out there” to fight, said Clinton, 36, of Swampscott, Massachusetts. “It’s no secret they know we’re here. It’s just a question of when and where” an assault would happen.
The Marines’ mission is the first carried out by U.S. forces this far south in Helmand province in years. An operation late last year to take back the Taliban-held town of Musa Qala on the north end of Helmand involved U.S., British and Afghan forces.
Helmand province is the world’s largest opium poppy growing region and has been a flashpoint of the increasingly violent insurgency the last two years. British troops — who are responsible for Helmand — have faced fierce battles on the north end of Helmand.