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07-22-2010, 10:32 AM
U.S. steps up Kandahar operation in Afghanistan
By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
ARGHANDAB VALLEY, Afghanistan — The operation began before dawn. Two hundred Army soldiers moved into a village in the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar province over a few hours' time, their military vehicles rumbling past lush orchards seeded with mines.
As villagers shopped at a market selling melons, watches and cellphone cards, the soldiers walked about in the searing heat, searching buildings, fields and people for booby-trap bombs or Taliban fighters.
"Nobody's going to get hurt. It's going to be fine. Everybody's going to be respectful," Capt. Adam Armstrong told a group of elders who gathered.
The soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 508th Parachute Infantry, had taken over one of the few unsecured villages left along the banks of the Arghandab River a few miles west of Kandahar City.
An offensive on Kandahar City has been on hold as hundreds of servicemembers who are part of a U.S. surge ordered by President Obama arrive.
Kandahar City is the birthplace of the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in the 1990s. The clerics who headed the movement terrorized Afghans with harsh Islamic rule and gave safe haven to Osama bin Laden until they were ousted in the U.S.-led invasion of late 2001.
The city of 400,000 people is second only to the capital, Kabul, in size. It is the hometown of the Taliban's leader, Mohammed Omar, and a lair for Taliban forces fighting to return to power, the Pentagon says.
The city and the surrounding valley are referred to as the breadbasket of Afghanistan because of the lush farmlands that spread from both banks of the Arghandab, the soil irrigated by canals dug by the U.S. in the 1950s. The tangle of grapevines, briars and pomegranate trees that crowd many of the farms provides cover for insurgents. Armstrong said they have sniped at troops and planted thousands of improvised explosive devices that have killed and maimed hundreds of coalition servicemembers.
The International Security Assistance Force, which oversees military operations, says the insurgents use the area to funnel explosives, weapons and ingredients for home-made bombs into Kandahar City. Spot raids here produced caches of weapons as well as insurgent leaders, the force says.
On Wednesday, U.S. soldiers, along with troops from the Afghan national army and Afghan national police, set up a combat outpost in an orchard within the dried mud walls that frame the village.
Troops encountered no resistance while heading in on MRAPs, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Armstrong, commander of the 2-508's Bravo Company, part of the 82nd Airborne, said village leaders had been told the U.S. forces would be coming but not when.
He was invited to drink chai tea in the shade by an intersection of dirt streets accompanied by Afghan army and police commanders.
Armstrong told residents the military's aim was to make the area safer for the villagers and asked for their help in finding hidden bombs and Taliban fighters. One bearded man was searched before he and his burqa-clad wife sped out of town on a motorbike. Afghan army and police took the lead in many of the searches. Female soldiers were on hand to search women.
Most of the 400 families living in the village, which has 10 mosques, remained out of sight behind the high walls inside compounds. Scores of children played in the streets and flocked around soldiers.
Forces found no weapons or explosives but did stumble across a crop of 8-foot-tall marijuana plants. Armstrong suspected many merchants were Taliban but had no proof. The Pentagon said a Taliban commander was captured in the village May 23 after intelligence indicated insurgents were present and active.
Armstrong said IEDs would be the primary threat when his soldiers fan out to look for insurgents.
"Our noses are on the ground. We're looking for IEDs," said Sgt. Erik Hoeksema of Chicago, who has been injured twice by the devices.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/2010-07-22-kandahar22_ST_N.htm
By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
ARGHANDAB VALLEY, Afghanistan — The operation began before dawn. Two hundred Army soldiers moved into a village in the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar province over a few hours' time, their military vehicles rumbling past lush orchards seeded with mines.
As villagers shopped at a market selling melons, watches and cellphone cards, the soldiers walked about in the searing heat, searching buildings, fields and people for booby-trap bombs or Taliban fighters.
"Nobody's going to get hurt. It's going to be fine. Everybody's going to be respectful," Capt. Adam Armstrong told a group of elders who gathered.
The soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 508th Parachute Infantry, had taken over one of the few unsecured villages left along the banks of the Arghandab River a few miles west of Kandahar City.
An offensive on Kandahar City has been on hold as hundreds of servicemembers who are part of a U.S. surge ordered by President Obama arrive.
Kandahar City is the birthplace of the Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in the 1990s. The clerics who headed the movement terrorized Afghans with harsh Islamic rule and gave safe haven to Osama bin Laden until they were ousted in the U.S.-led invasion of late 2001.
The city of 400,000 people is second only to the capital, Kabul, in size. It is the hometown of the Taliban's leader, Mohammed Omar, and a lair for Taliban forces fighting to return to power, the Pentagon says.
The city and the surrounding valley are referred to as the breadbasket of Afghanistan because of the lush farmlands that spread from both banks of the Arghandab, the soil irrigated by canals dug by the U.S. in the 1950s. The tangle of grapevines, briars and pomegranate trees that crowd many of the farms provides cover for insurgents. Armstrong said they have sniped at troops and planted thousands of improvised explosive devices that have killed and maimed hundreds of coalition servicemembers.
The International Security Assistance Force, which oversees military operations, says the insurgents use the area to funnel explosives, weapons and ingredients for home-made bombs into Kandahar City. Spot raids here produced caches of weapons as well as insurgent leaders, the force says.
On Wednesday, U.S. soldiers, along with troops from the Afghan national army and Afghan national police, set up a combat outpost in an orchard within the dried mud walls that frame the village.
Troops encountered no resistance while heading in on MRAPs, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. Armstrong, commander of the 2-508's Bravo Company, part of the 82nd Airborne, said village leaders had been told the U.S. forces would be coming but not when.
He was invited to drink chai tea in the shade by an intersection of dirt streets accompanied by Afghan army and police commanders.
Armstrong told residents the military's aim was to make the area safer for the villagers and asked for their help in finding hidden bombs and Taliban fighters. One bearded man was searched before he and his burqa-clad wife sped out of town on a motorbike. Afghan army and police took the lead in many of the searches. Female soldiers were on hand to search women.
Most of the 400 families living in the village, which has 10 mosques, remained out of sight behind the high walls inside compounds. Scores of children played in the streets and flocked around soldiers.
Forces found no weapons or explosives but did stumble across a crop of 8-foot-tall marijuana plants. Armstrong suspected many merchants were Taliban but had no proof. The Pentagon said a Taliban commander was captured in the village May 23 after intelligence indicated insurgents were present and active.
Armstrong said IEDs would be the primary threat when his soldiers fan out to look for insurgents.
"Our noses are on the ground. We're looking for IEDs," said Sgt. Erik Hoeksema of Chicago, who has been injured twice by the devices.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/afghanistan/2010-07-22-kandahar22_ST_N.htm