Marines push Taliban out
Guerrillas use ploy to escape from besieged compound
BY ASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press
Wednesday, July 8, 2009 10:49 AM PDT
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| Leathernecks from the 1st Battalion, 5th U.S. Marine Regiment, arrive at a compound to sleep for the night in a town in the Nawa district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province Monday. |
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — U.S. Marines trapped Taliban fighters in a residential compound and persuaded the insurgents to allow women and children to leave. The troops then moved in — only to discover that the militants had slipped out, dressed in women’s burqa robes.
The fighters, who may owe their lives to the new U.S. commander’s emphasis on limiting civilian casualties, were among hundreds of militants who have fled the offensive the Marines launched last week in southern Helmand province. Marine officers say keeping the Taliban from returning so the Afghan government can establish a stable presence will be a bigger challenge.
‘’We have dislocated them while still protecting the people,’’ said Col. Eric Mellinger, the operations officer for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. ‘’Now the key is to prevent militants from coming back in, and the way to do that is to earn their (Afghan villagers’) trust so that they don’t allow them to come back in.’’
For more of this story, see today's Argus Observer.
