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Posted on 11/26/2001 1:31:57 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
Monday November 26 4:56 PM ET
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By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer
SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN (AP) - Newly landed U.S. Marines went into combat for the first time late Monday, sending helicopter gunships to attack armored vehicles near their new base in southern Afghanistan (news - web sites).
The AH-1W Cobras assaulted 15 tanks and armored personnel carriers and destroyed some of them, a Marine spokesman said, indicating combat continued as he spoke with reporters shortly before midnight local time.
There was no word on casualties for either side.
The spokesman, Capt. David Romley, did not say who manned the vehicles, but the desert airstrip the Marines seized Sunday night is in the region of Kandahar, the last major stronghold held by the Taliban.
Rowley would not say if the armored column was heading toward the base or give any details about where it was attacked, except to say it was ``in the vicinity of this base.'' He said the vehicles had been spotted by U.S. aircraft.
Rowley said the column included tanks and BMPs, which are armored vehicles capable of carrying a dozen soldiers each. When the Soviet army retreated from Afghanistan in 1989 after a decade-long war, it left its client regime with dozens of tanks and BMPs that later were captured by a coalition of local militias and warlords.
At the base, helicopters and transport planes ferried in troops and equipment late into the night, and the Pentagon (news - web sites) said it would take at least another day to reach the full complement of about 1,000 Marines. The aircraft were operating off the USS Peleliu hundreds of miles away in the northern Arabian Sea and from unidentified bases on the coast.
Working under a bright moon in the chill night air, Marines hurried to set up shop and fortify the airstrip for a new phase of the U.S. war on terrorism. Until now, the U.S. role in the war had been mostly in the air.
Carried by CH-53E Super Stallion heavy lift helicopters, the first contingent of Marines touched down at the desolate airstrip at 9 p.m. local time Sunday and met no resistance, according to their reports.
``The Marines have landed and we now own a piece of Afghanistan,'' Gen. James Mattis, commander of the task force, said Monday. ``Everything went without a hitch.''
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld declined to talk about what kinds of operations might be staged from the base. He suggested only that it would ratchet up the pressure on the leaders of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida network by further hindering their movements in the Kandahar area.
Rumsfeld also said that ``hundreds, not thousands'' of Marines would man the ``forward operating base,'' but not necessarily as the vanguard of a substantially larger American ground force.
Earlier, President Bush (news - web sites) said the Marines would assist in hunting down terrorists linked to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The Associated Press was allowed to accompany the Marines on condition its reports not reveal the base's exact location or any future mission plans.
The base is isolated, with no signs of towns in the distance across the flat desert. The only lights for miles around were the runway lights installed by the Marines and lights burning inside the airstrip's buildings.
Col. Peter Miller, chief of staff of the Marine task force, said the sand landing strip and buildings had been built by a wealthy Arab to provide access to his hunting lodge. The compound includes a small mosque with a minaret and a large white building that may have served as a hangar.
There are more than 4,000 Marines in the two units contributing troops to the operation: the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Pendleton, Calif., and the 26th from Camp Lejeune, N.C., which are on amphibious ships in the Arabian Sea. The units are trained for ground combat, evacuations, humanitarian aid and other missions.
The first troops to land - from the 15th brought in by helicopters - were watched over by AH-1W Cobra and UN-1N Huey helicopter gunships, Harrier jump-jet fighter-bombers and other aircraft.
The aircraft flew as far as 400 miles from their ships in what was described as the longest amphibious and air deployment ever conducted by the Marine Corps.
``We are going to operate at the very extremes of the ability of our machinery,'' said Miller, the task force's British-born chief of staff. ``We would much prefer to be closer in, because it just makes it logistically that much easier for us. But the way this operation is designed, with the intermediate staging bases, we'll be able to pull this off.''
Shortly before the operation began Sunday night, the steel hull of the Peleliu echoed with the sound of gunfire as infantrymen tested their weapons by firing into the sea from a wide doorway. Then they hauled their packs, weapons and protective gear - often pushing 100 pounds of equipment - to transport helicopters waiting on deck.
As some of the Marines boarded the helicopters, beads of sweat on their faces from the heat and the strain of carrying their heavy gear, a Navy chaplain, Lt. Cmdr. Donald Troast of Boston, touched some on the shoulder.
Once they had boarded, he stood with his head bowed. He said later: ``I asked God to bless every one of them. I don't care what their religion is.''
Earlier Stories
U.S. Enters Combat in Afghanistan (November 26)
US Helicopters Attack Afghan Convoy (November 26)
U.S. Marines Land in Afghanistan (November 26)
An AH-1W Super Cobra from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 264, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit fires a 2.75 inch rocket over an impact area during low-level close air support training in Slunj, Croatia in this November 25, 2000 file photo. U.S. Marines in Cobra attack helicopters fired on a convoy of around 15 vehicles in southern Afghanistan November 26, 2001 after it was seen heading towards a desert airstrip seized by the marines the previous day. REUTERS/HO/SSgt Brook R Kelsey
President Bush, flanked by Dayna Mercer, left, and Heather Mercer, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House Monday, Nov. 26, 2001 where he welcomed home the two aid workers who were held captive for three months by Afghanistan's Taliban. Family members stand behind them. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Children play in the old town of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 26, 2001. More than 20 years of fighting have left much of the city in ruin. (AP Photo/Marco Di Lauro)
The AH-1W Cobras assaulted 15 tanks and armored personnel carriers and destroyed some of them, a Marine spokesman said, indicating combat continued as he spoke with reporters shortly before midnight local time. . .Good job, men! Bring President Bush back the head of Osama bin Laden!``The Marines have landed and we now own a piece of Afghanistan,'' Gen. James Mattis, commander of the task force, said Monday. ``Everything went without a hitch.''
Are these kids playing with the head of Osama?...Sorry getting a little ahead of myself.
Go Army!
The Associated Press was allowed to accompany the Marines on condition its reports not reveal the base's exact location or any future mission plans.
The base is isolated, with no signs of towns in the distance across the flat desert. The only lights for miles around were the runway lights installed by the Marines and lights burning inside the airstrip's buildings.
Col. Peter Miller, chief of staff of the Marine task force, said the sand landing strip and buildings had been built by a wealthy Arab to provide access to his hunting lodge. The compound includes a small mosque with a minaret and a large white building that may have served as a hangar.
The only thing the AP didn't do is give a street address. I would think any local for a hundred miles around would be able to tell someone exactly where this place is. Get the press out of there until our troops are safe or let the military censor their reports.
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