Marine offensive finds Taliban south of Garmsir

Telegraph:

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Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, said on Friday the 2/8 infantry battalion was meeting resistance at Toshtay, 16 miles south of Garmsir.

He said: "For 2/8, there is a hell of a fight going on in the southern quarter of the sector. 2/8 are going to face some challenges.

"An enemy-controlled baseline just south of Garmsir was crushed yesterday but that doesn't mean all the enemy have gone.

"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 added: "Nawa is quiet, too quiet. Something is eerie. The enemy has gone to ground, shuras [councils of elders] are being set up."

The American marine offensive entered its second day as British troops north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah began a third wave of their own Operation Panchai Palang or Panther's Claw.

Around 800 Light Dragoons drove north after the Welsh Guards spent ten days capturing 13 crossings along the Shamalan canal a British military statement said.

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The Taliban cannot afford to meet the Marines head on, so I do not expect them to sustain any resistance even when they are located unless they have no way out. Once the Marine units establish their bases with the population it will also become more difficult for the Taliban to move to contact. They will probably use ever smaller units to attempt to place IEDs along patrol routes. Varying those routes will complicate their task.