Taleban fall back as Nato advances

MARJAH - Hundreds of American Marines and British soldiers claimed early successes against light resistance as they advanced into key Taleban strongholds in southern Afghanistan in the biggest operation against insurgents since 2001.

Nato said two of its soldiers were killed in the first day of the operation - one American and one Briton, according to military officials.

A fleet of 60 helicopters circling in the dawn sky had heralded the start of Moshtarak ("Together" in the local Dari dialect) and the morning light saw troops attacking the Helmand town of Marjah and strategically crucial districts to its north.

United States Marines were reported to be moving towards the town centre as British forces revealed they had secured "key objectives".

Sources on the ground described hearing a series of controlled explosions as advance units picked their way through minefields and booby-trapped routes leading into the town.

Reporters embedded with the troops reported US Cobra helicopters and Harrier jets firing missiles at tunnels, bunkers and other defensive positions before the ground offensive began and then sporadic but intense exchanges of fire with Taleban fighters.

Progress has been careful. A bridge over a canal into the town was so heavily mined and booby-trapped that US Marines built substitutes alongside it. British soldiers were ordered not to follow obvious tracks to reduce the risk of IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

Marine Lance Corporal Ivan Meza, 19, was the first to cross one of the temporary bridges.

"I did get an adrenaline rush, and that bridge is wobbly," said the Californian combat engineer.

According to Abdul Kader, a 44-year-old shopkeeper, seven or eight Taleban fighters who had been holding the position where the Marines crossed fled during the night.

"They left with their motorcycles and their guns. They went deeper into town," Kader said as Marines and Afghan troops searched a poppy field next to his house for mines.

Units from the British Grenadier and Coldstream Guards came under sporadic sniper fire as they seized Taleban-held territory in the Nad-e-Ali district and the Chah-e-Anjir triangle, north of Marjah.

Major General Gordon Messenger, former commander of British forces in Helmand, told a briefing in London:

"We are pleased how it has gone. Key objectives have been realised ... with minimal interference. The Taleban have not been able to put up a coherent response and appear confused and disjointed."

About 1200 British troops had thrust deep into one of the most notorious districts of Helmand with a further 3000 held in reserve in case the Taleban offered fierce resistance.

In reality, British sources on the ground reported that most Taleban fighters had simply "melted away".

In contrast to previous such operations, the advance on Marjah has been heavily publicised and the strategy appeared to succeed in encouraging insurgents to surrender land without a fight.

But Messenger said the Taleban might try to recapture their former land. "They have a reputation for sitting back and watching. In a couple of days they may have got their breath back and are prepared to have a go."

Most of the region's residents had also fled as coalition forces took hold of territory regarded as one of the strongest Taleban bastions in southern Afghanistan. Some villages were described as practically deserted.

Hours before the offensive, the commander of British forces in Helmand, Brigadier James Cowan, had briefed his troops to avoid shooting even if it meant putting their lives in danger.

"Hold your fire if there is a risk to the innocent, even if this puts you in greater danger," he said.

"Restraint requires courage."

Central to Moshtarak is the capturing of Marjah with about 4500 US Marines, 1500 Afghan troops and 300 US soldiers taking part in the offensive Taleban flee Nato advance

on the town, which is surrounded by a treacherous network of canals and heavily mined fields and roads.

Though the Taleban had defiantly sworn to resist the offensive and even yesterday continued to insist they were in full control of Marjah, analysts predicted it was unlikely they would risk a full confrontation with the overwhelming conventional firepower of the coalition forces.

On the few occasions when the insurgents have fought pitched battles - even in terrain as defensible as that of Marjah - they have suffered heavy casualties. In tough house-to-house fighting in Kandahar province in late 2006, the Taleban had at least 1000 fighters killed.

But this time Taleban losses were relatively minor, with most opting to flee rather than fight. Between five and 20 Taleban fighters were said to have been killed, eight since the offensive.

Instead the Taleban appear to have favoured their preferred method of so-called "asymmetric" tactics, favouring bombs triggered by passing troops and suicide attacks rather than frontal assaults.

- OBSERVER, AP