US Marines in 'hell of a fight' in Afghanistan

GARMSIR, Afghanistan, (AFP) - US Marines are in a hell of a fight as they storm into Taliban strongholds during a major assault in Afghanistan, their commanding officer said Friday.
Nearly US 4,000 Marines launched the operation Thursday in parts of the southern province of Helmand and pushed deeper into Taliban strongholds Friday, suffering their first fatality in a pivotal test of President Barack Obamas aggressive new strategy against the Taliban.
The 1/5 Infantry Battalion met only light resistance in their push south and had already been able to meet locals at shuras (councils), Brig-Gen Larry Nicholson said, speaking to a convoy with which AFP was travelling.
But for 2/8 there is a hell of a fight going on in the southern quarter of the sector, the top Marine said on arrival at Garmsir, a town along the Helmand River that was a key objective for Operation Khanjar.
2/8 are going to face some challenges, he said. The battalion was in an area called Toshtay about 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of Garmsir.
Commanders said they would persuade locals that the Afghan security forces - backed by Western troops - offered them a better long-term future than the Taliban militia as Afghanistan braces for elections next month.
On Thursday Marines were inserted into Garmsir and Nawa with little resistance, and quickly overran Khanishin further south where the Taliban had set up a proxy government and justice system. But they also recorded their first death in an air and land assault that is the Marines biggest operation since in Fallujah in Iraq in November 2004. Troops had on Thursday destroyed a militant position in Garmsir, Nicholson said.
An enemy-controlled baseline just south of Garmsir was crushed yesterday but that doesnt mean all the enemy have gone, he said.
In the next few days the enemy will observe us to see what we are doing. Then they will come back with a vengeance, he said.
Nicholson later told AFP separately: Garmsir is three-quarters quiet but there is fighting in Toshtay. We intend to clear that up today. This doesnt mean it is over. The enemy may be reassessing the situation. They pushed deeper into Taliban strongholds in opium-producing areas along the Helmand River on Friday. Today Marines are continuing to move towards those objectives that are still out there and they are going to work to stabilise security in these areas, Marine spokesman First Lieutenant Kurt Stahl said.
When Marines go out into towns, they are always looking for opportunities to talk to village elders and explain why they are here, Stahl said.
The intention is to understand each other, elders can express their concerns and an open flow of communication is secured.
British forces announced meanwhile they had successfully carried out one of their most strategically significant operations north of the Helmand capital Lashkar Gah.
Hundreds of soldiers had seized 13 key canal crossings which would enable them to stop insurgents moving between Lashkar Gah and the key town of Gereshk, they said.
In fresh attacks Friday, a remote-controlled bomb blew up a vehicle of road construction workers from an Indian firm in the eastern province of Paktya and killed five men, a provincial government spokesman said.
A suicide bomber meanwhile exploded near Italian soldiers in the western province of Herat, police said. There were no Afghan casualties, he said.
In eastern Afghanistan, the Haqqani faction claimed it was holding a US soldier who had been missing since June 30, before the current offensive kicked off.
The new assault in Helmand is called Khanjar, which means dagger in Dari and Pashtu but is translated by the Marines as Strike of the Sword.