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WASHINGTON - A senior Marine general in Afghanistan on Tuesday declared the battle in the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah "essentially over." The declaration comes 10 months after thousands of U.S.-led NATO troops stormed the cluster of farming hamlets to oust the insurgents and cut off their income from the drug trade. The campaign took longer than NATO officials had hoped, and underscored the complexity of trying to wrest control of an area where Taliban influence remained strong. Maj. Gen. Richard Mills told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday the enemy has been pushed to the outskirts of the area,...

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.Cpl. Christopher J. Boyd, 22, of Palatine, Ill., died Aug. 19 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, IMarine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The recent battle in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province was a key test case for new rules of engagement that emphasized protecting civilians rather than killing insurgents. The town was taken, but whether that was because of the new rules or despite them remains to be seen. The rules of engagement are probably the most restrictive ever seen for a war of this nature. NATO forces cannot fire on suspected Taliban fighters unless they are clearly visible, armed and posing a direct threat. Buildings suspected of containing insurgents cannot be targeted unless it is certain that civilians are not also...

fighting in the former Taliban stronghold in Marjah has died down. US forces completed an operation to push the Taliban out of their main southern Afghanistan stronghold, but found residents there deeply sceptical of the Afghan government's promises to rebuild. US Brigadier General Lawrence Nicholson says convincing local residents they can trust the Afghan government will be a big issue for US, NATO and Afghan forces. He says in a recent meeting with elders, one self-proclaimed "Taliban leader" backed the presence of the Americans, but then turned to their Afghan government counterpart and declared: "I don't trust you." Gaining local...

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2010 – Operation Moshtarak, now in its 18th day in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, is “progressing extraordinarily well” and is moving from the clearing phase to the holding phase, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today. “There are still pockets where we believe there to be some Taliban hiding out, perhaps lying in wait,” he said. “We are determined to clear out those pockets, as well.” Pockets of fighting probably will continue for weeks, he added, even as signs of normalcy emerge there. Because of the operation, the Afghan government now is in control of the Helmand cities...

THE Taliban have found a way to beat American airpower. And they have managed this remarkable feat with American help. The consequences of this development are front and center in the current offensive in Marja, Afghanistan, where air support to American and Afghan forces has been all but grounded by concerns about civilian casualties. American and NATO military leaders — worried by Taliban propaganda claiming that air strikes have killed an inordinate number of civilians, and persuaded by “hearts and minds” enthusiasts that the key to winning the war is the Afghan population’s goodwill — have largely relinquished the strategic...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2010 – Operations in Marja, Afghanistan, are transitioning from the clearing to the holding phase, as today’s turnover of the government center there marks a symbol of progress, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today. Twelve days into Operation Moshtarak, the offensive in the former Taliban stronghold is “trending in a very positive direction,” Morrell said, on both the military and governance fronts. The new Afghan government raised its flag over Marja today, with Abdul Zahir Aryan installed as its administrator. Morrell called the transfer of the government center “symbolic of where we are in this operation.”...

The Afghan government took official control of the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah on Thursday, installing an administrator and raising the national flag while U.S.-led troops rooted out final pockets of militants. The ceremony occurred in a central market as U.S. Marines and Afghan troops slogged through bomb-laden fields in northern parts of the town. Some 700 residents gathered to see Abdul Zahir Aryan formally appointed as the top government official in Marjah, according to U.S. officials at the event. "It's a very historical day, a new beginning," Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, the commander of the U.S. Marines in southern...

U.S. and Afghan forces have taken control of the main roads, bridges and government centers of the Taliban haven of Marjah, the top Marine commander in southern Afghanistan said Thursday, though he added that pockets of insurgents remain. (Snip) On Thursday, Brig. Gen. Mohiudin Ghori, Nicholson's Afghan counterpart, condemned the insurgents' use of women and children as human shields during the fighting.

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of the United States Central Command, said Sunday that the battle now being fought in the Taliban stronghold of Marja was the “initial salvo” in a military campaign that could last 12 to 18 months. In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” news program, the general, who oversees the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, sought to put the Marja battle “into context” by explaining its part in the overall effort by American, Afghan and other forces to defeat the Taliban. He said that the coalition had spent recent months mapping strategy, gathering resources...

The homemade IED is the extremists’ deadliest weapon and America is spending billions on trying to combat it. We are granted access to this secret, smart and bizarre world The soldier breathes loud and fast as he lays a timed charge on an explosive in a Baghdad street. “I want these people to know if they’re going to leave a bomb on the side of the road for us, we’re just going to blow up their f****** road,” he growls, walking away. Before he can reach safety, an Iraqi punches a code into a mobile phone. The explosion sends the...

Courtesy UK Ministry of Defence As Operation MOSHTARAK enters its second week, local people in Marjah have voiced their thanks to the ISAF troops involved in clearing the area of insurgents. In a briefing to the media today, Friday 19 February 2010, UK military spokesman Major General Gordon Messenger said that locals within the agricultural population of the town are welcoming troops arriving in the area. Operation MOSHTARAK is being conducted in Marjah area by predominantly American and Afghan troops, while British troops and their Afghan partners have been concentrating in the Nad 'Ali district. Maj Gen Messenger said...

After a fierce gunfight, U.S. Marines seized a strongly defended compound Friday that appears to have been a Taliban headquarters — complete with photos of fighters posing with their weapons, dozens of Taliban-issued ID cards and graduation diplomas from a training camp in Pakistan. Insurgents who had been using the field office just south of Marjah's town center abandoned it by the end of the day's fighting, as Marines converged on them from all sides, escalating operations to break resistance in this Taliban stronghold in southern Helmand province.

KABUL, Afghanistan (Feb. 19) - Clearance operations continue and are still meeting with some resistance, more so in Marjah than in Nad-e Ali. IEDs remain the main threat to the combined force, with some intense small-arms engagements still occurring. Afghan and British forces are pressing on with clearing operations in Nad-e Ali and the South Bolan Desert while ANSF and U.S. forces clear Marjah. The combined force is meeting determined pockets of resistance in both the north and east of Marjah city. The main effort has been on clearing IEDs and minefields. Another focus is the emplacement of military bridging...

Elite Marine recon teams were dropped behind Taliban lines by helicopter Friday as the U.S.-led force stepped up operations to break resistance in the besieged insurgent stronghold of Marjah. About two dozen Marines were inserted before dawn into an area where skilled Taliban marksmen are known to operate, an officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

As the aggressive battle wages against the Taliban in Marjah, may this story remind us to pray for the safety of our troops and those Afghans fighting alongside them. This week, US and Afghan troops have been fighting Taliban forces in Marjah, Afghanistan, and the opposition has been fierce. Hoping that they will be able to root out the enemy strongholds in the city—much like they were conquered in Iraq's Fallujah—the Afghan and US troops in Afghanistan have endured some of the most intense combat so far. Out of that mêlée, though, came a miraculous story on Monday, when—as the...

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As the campaign to take over the village of Marjah enters its second day, the fog of battle has somewhat dissipated, bringing to light one of the untold truths over what the real battle is all about. Coalition forces conducting the operation are trying their utmost, to emphasize the role of the Afghan National Army as an equal member of the engaged military force, and lead element representing the interests and authority of the central government in Kabul. But the battle is not fought over the land, but on the hearts and minds of the local Pashtun tribe people, torn...

A U.S. Marine from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, takes aim as he tries to protect an Afghan man and his child after Taliban fighters opened fire in the town of Marjah, in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, February 13, 2010.

The centre of Marjah looked battered and abandoned yesterday as soldiers raised a makeshift Afghan flag after days of intense fighting between the Taleban and US Marines. The symbolic gesture was designed to demonstrate Afghan government control but commanders acknowleged that the fighting was far from over and the local population were nowhere to be seen. Troops in the town centre said that the insurgents had retreated to the western edge of their Helmand stronghold, where US and Afghan troops are still waiting to dislodge them. In Loy Chari, which means main square, in central Marjah, shops were reduced to...