Marine Harrier finishes fire fight in Helmand

Washington Post:

Taliban insurgents stepped up attacks Friday against U.S. Marines in southern Afghanistan's Helmand River valley, forcing troops in some areas to spend the day fighting instead of carrying out plans to meet with residents and local leaders.

The stiffest resistance occurred in the district of Garmser, where Taliban fighters holed up in a walled housing compound engaged in an eight-hour gun battle with troops from the 2nd battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment. The Marines eventually requested a Harrier fighter jet to drop a 500 pound bomb on the compound, which was believed to have killed all of the fighters inside.

The commanders directing the massive Marine security operation here had said they hoped not to rely on airstrikes, which have resulted in numerous civilian casualties in Afghanistan over the past seven years, and officers here noted with pride Thursday that they had not used bombs or artillery in the first 24 hours of the mission. But they were left with little choice after the insurgents refused to surrender. Even so, senior officers emphasized that they had watched the building -- from the ground and with surveillance aircraft -- for almost a full day before concluding there were no civilians inside.

There was no immediate count of how many insurgents were killed, although ground commanders reported that between 30 and 40 were shooting from in and around the compound early in the day. The airstrike also resulted in several secondary explosions, leading Marines at the site to suspect that the house may have contained homemade bombs.

The fight began Thursday, when the 2nd battalion's Echo Company, which was conducting a foot patrol after arriving in the area by helicopter, was attacked by insurgents who subsequently retreated into the housing compound, whereupon an hours-long gunfight ensued.

The firing stopped Thursday evening, after Marine AH-1 Cobra helicopters fired Hellfire missiles into the compound. It resumed Friday morning when a Marine transport helicopter landed to deliver Echo Company pallets of food and water. The helicopter was unscathed, but the fusillade soon escalated to large-caliber machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

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It is interesting how the Marines act like the combat is a distraction from their real mission of having tea with the locals. It is also interesting how extending the time before calling in the jets does little to change the results. This group of Taliban apparently was not able to take human shields, but it would not surprise me to see the Taliban propaganda arm claim they were all civilians in the building.

The Taliban really do the Marines a favor when they hole up in a compound like this. They would be much better running off and letting the Marines destroy their toys rather than trying to defend them. Apparently other Taliban in the area did leave to fight another day.