“Held Down” Under Heavy Fire: Echo Company Marines From 2/8 Battle To Hold Position
Troops from a US Marine company in Afghanistan have been under almost constant fire since entering the country with 4,000 other troops during the week.
Since flying in by helicopter to Mian Poshteh in Helmand province, troops from the 2/8 infantry battalion have been held down by insurgents.
The 200 Marines are still fighting to hold position and have had to call in helicopter gunships for assistance.
Taliban fighters have been using small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and rockets against the Marines
One Marine was killed in the hostile fire in the first day of the battle, while others are succumbing to the intense heat in the area and are being evacuated to medical facilities.
The Marines are in an area which is criss-crossed by canals and irrigation ditches which were built by the US in the 1950s and 1960s to aid agriculturalists in the region.
Opium has become the mainstay on local farms, where the owners have been forced by the Taliban insurgency to grow the crop.
Agencie France Presse:
GARMSIR, Afghanistan (AFP) – Since 4,000 US Marines pushed into Taliban-controlled areas of southern Afghanistan on Thursday, one company has been in a constant firefight with the insurgents, the military said.
Troops from Echo company of the 2/8 infantry battalion flew in by helicopter to Mian Poshteh, a key canal and road junction in Helmand province, as part of President Barack Obama’s efforts to finally defeat the Islamist militants.
The 200 Marines fighting to hold the position arrived at dawn on Thursday, and they were still engaged in fierce combat through the weekend, Major Dan Gaskell told AFP at nearby Camp Delhi.
“Echo company landed by the canal intersection and set up shop,” he said late Saturday. “They have been fighting to hold that position.
“The enemy really wants it back, and have been doing everything they can to dislodge Echo. That continues.”
The US has called in helicopter gunships three times to help the Marines, Gaskell said, including one attack using a Hellfire missile.
He said about 40 Taliban fighters were using small arms, rocket-propelled grenades and rockets against the Marines, who have based themselves in a walled compound.
“The enemy tactic is to conduct a feint attack from one compass direction, then fire from a second direction, and follow up with a proper attack from a third,” he said.
“They have shown the ability to switch back and forth, so the combination may come from any angle.”
One Marine was killed by hostile fire in the first day of the battle, while at least two others have suffered chronic heat exhaustion in the scorching temperatures and had to be evacuated by helicopter.
“Mian Poshteh is the most difficult situation in the current operation,” Gaskell said of the site 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of Camp Delta in the Garmsir district of Helmand.
“The enemy are against a 200-plus Marine company, which is the most feared thing in the world. But we have rules of engagement and destroying everything in the area is not our intent. We fight back in a proportional way.”
The Helmand River valley is criss-crossed with canals and irrigation ditches built by the US in the 1950s and 1960s to promote agriculture in the region, but the main crop is now opium which funds much of the Islamist insurgency.
“The terrain is pretty tricky and easy to get bogged down in, especially with the weight of gear that Marines carry,” Gaskell said.
“The Hellfire missile was fired after the company commander had spent eight hours trying to manoeuvre in on one pocket of resistance. We knew from live aerial video there were no civilians there.”
He said another air attack, on Saturday afternoon, was “a helicopter rocket and gun run” that had either killed those targeted or forced them to flee the tree line from where they were firing on the Marines.
Operation Khanjar, which involved thousands of Marines moving into the Helmand valley to extend the reach of the Afghan central government, has faced generally light resistance.
But US commanders say they expect their troops to soon be hit by counter-attacks.
“The enemy assumes that within several days we’ll be leaving but we’re not going anywhere,” Lieutenant Colonel Christian Cabaniss, in charge of the US operations around Garmsir, said.
“We’ve picked good ground, close to the population centres, and we’re going to stay.
“But we do want to know why the enemy have chosen to fight at Mian Poshteh. Perhaps there’s a high value commander there.”
The military’s plan is to improve security in Helmand so that locals reject the hardline Taliban in favour of the central government, allowing international troops who have been in the country since 2001 to eventually withdraw.
The area south of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, is the world?s biggest opium-growing region and a route for Taliban fighters joining the insurgency from across the Pakistan border.
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Why go on the offense now? Cant we wait until its cooler out?
What we are actually doing, is killing those who are not on our side. Or those who dont want to play our game.
The Armed Forces have become nothing more than force, that does the bidding of its master. They dont do whats best for the US.
Drugs/Opium are the 4th largest economy in the world.
There is no other reason to be in Afghanistan.
Killing those who are not on our side is called WAR. WAR does not stop with the weather. The U.S. was attacked by forces within Afghanistan and we, as a country, are allowed to protect ourselves. As far as the military doing the bidding of it’s master, he is called the President. So shut the #%$# up you ignorant pin head.
Ji, what the fuck are you doing on this site anyway? If we were all in room together, having a beer and shooting the shit, and you made a statement like that, you wouldn’t get out of the room alive. Fuck!
The Armed “Forces” are nothing but a “Force”?
Well, DUH!
What Old Chief said.
Fine Old Chief …then we go to war …real war,not this pussyfooting politically correct mincing that this so called communist…”PRESIDENT” usurper with no BC is laying our men’s lives on the line for.DoI misread you?
Too hot? Nah, their blood pulses with blood from Guadalcanal, Betio, Wake Island, Bouganville, Tinian, Saiapan, Kwajalein, Tarawa, Iwo, Okinawa, Chosin, Hills 881 N&S Khe Sahn, Que, Fallujha and the lists go on. That’s what we do, under fire, to close with and destroy the enemy.
Our guys are better fed and in better health with better awaresness of heat and cold issues.
I don’t like the concept of Afgahnistan however we are about as ready for this as ever.
Good information Semper Loco, and Ji, you are an “ignorant pin head” just like Old Chief notes!
In fact, if I could find you I personally would kick your wimpy hind-end.
We are at war! We are allowed to as well as responsible to, kick the living daylights out of “…those who are not on our side…” In fact we need to do some more of it! Stop being so fashionable about civilian casualties and bomb the devil out of some of those towns and villages where we know ole Achmed is hiding out.
If you can’t take the heat of this site get out of the kitchen and leave it up to those of us who have and who can!
Semper Fi my Green Brethren!
“The Hellfire missile was fired after the company commander had spent eight hours trying to manoeuvre in on one pocket of resistance. We knew from live aerial video there were no civilians there.”
“But we have rules of engagement and destroying everything in the area is not our intent. We fight back in a proportional way.”
Wow, you have to wait 8 hours to fire one hellfire, and now we’re fighting in a “proportional” way. Whatever happened to overwhelming firepower? The military is just doing what obama tells them because they have to, even when it leads to our own men dying.
Thats how you keep a war from being won…perpetual combat is the name of the game just like Vietnam. Stay of of Ji I think you guys took his coment the wrong way I feel the same way sometimes about what myself and my friends have done in the past 8 years…Our government does not care about us and never has!
It does have a tinge of that nasty sound of, “micro management”, from some wannabe puppet master jerking the strings, but let’s hope not.
You mean to tell me 200 of our finest can’t take out 40 rag-bags.BS!Their hands are tied.By this communist dictator OBONGO.I can’t believe how our soldiers are hung out to dry…Rotten traitors and that includes that whining POS political footsie player Gaskell or whatever the f*&#.
Win the day, boys. Our prayers are with you.
Pat thanks for this update about our Marines in Garmsir.
Why would’nt we take care of the poppy problem with round-up? to inexpensive. why are the marines used as live targets for the poppy growers? The rules of engagement are bullshit. this could all be taken care of with a flyover.
Leftist traitor Obama is doing the same wrong thing when Vietnam happened, the government should stay the hell out of the military’s way of waging a battle, a conflict or a war. In Vietnam their were too many rules made by the government just looking at a map of the country and in afghanistan, it looks like they want to make the same mistake, these taliban have to be wiped out, no buts and ifs, these folks have no reason to walk, they kill their own people, the fire behind civilians etc. etc. and have NO rules of engagement shoot like weasels and run like cowards and lay bombs.
Don’t you guys know that these are roughly the same Rules Of Engagement that we have had since 2001…I’m sorry but both parties are screwing this countries war making abilities…
…I hope one day all of you will open your eyes and see what our world truly is…a world that is behind bars and slaves to our messed up monetary system
[...] “Held Down” Under Heavy Fire: Echo Company Marines From 2/8 Battle To Hold Position Troops from a US Marine company in Afghanistan have been under almost constant fire since entering the country with 4,000 other troops during the week. [...]
To every ignorant prick out there, these men are putting their lives on the lime for scumbags who don’t appreciate it, my brother is out there and was involed in the 8 hour gunfight and I pray and thank god everyday that he is pushing through the hard time and actually loves and appreciates this country and would give his life to people who will never endure the pain and suffering these men go through and whoever disagrees is a bunch of cowards my brother is my hero and the strongest man I know and it hurts me to think that people think these men are killing innocent civilians when there absolutley not!!!! Get your damn heads on straight everyone and realize these men are trying to make it a safer place for you to live, while making it safer for us they are trying to help the innocent civlians living out there in afghanistan when the Taliban is killing their OWN civilians!!!! Learn the facts people stop being so naive and rude and start praying for these men, I miss my brother so much.