NAWA, Afghanistan – U.S. Marines moved into villages in Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan on Friday, meeting little resistance as they tried to win over local chiefs on the second day of the biggest military operation here since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001.
One Marine was killed and several others injured or wounded on Thursday, when some 4,000 Marines launched the operation in Helmand province — a remote area that is at the center of the country's illegal opium cultivation, which helps finance the insurgency.
So far, however, there has been little resistance from the Taliban, according to a military spokesman Capt. Bill Pelletier.
Britain's Defense Ministry said a roadside bomb Wednesday in Helmand killed the most senior U.K. officer to have died in combat in Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Rupert Thorneloe was the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.
In the country's east, meanwhile, a roadside bomb Friday killed three Afghans and a foreigner working on a road construction project, said Bismillah Mangal, the deputy governor Paktia province. The blast ripped through their vehicle as it was traveling on a road that connects Paktia and Khost province, Mangal said.
The aim of the operation in Helmand is not simply to kill Taliban fighters but to win over the local population, Pelletier said — a difficult task in a region where foreigners are viewed with suspicion.
"We are not worried about the Taliban, we are not focused on them. We are focused on the people," Pelletier said. "It is important to engage with the key leaders, hear what they need most and what are their priorities."
The offensive along 55 miles 88 kilometers of Taliban-controlled areas in southern Afghanistan will test the Obama administration's new strategy of holding territory to let the Afghan government sink roots in rural areas where Taliban influence is strong.
The insurgency has proven particularly resilient in the area, and foreign troops have never before operated in such large numbers there. Large areas have been under Taliban control, with little or no government presence.
As the operation entered its second day, the units secured control of the district centers of Nawa and Garmser, and negotiated entry into Khan Neshin, the capital of Rig district, Pelletier said.
"They waited for the local and village elders," outside Khan Neshin and "with their permission they went in and now are engaged in talks," Pelletier said.
As the Marines in the village of Nawa sat for a meeting with a group of 20 Afghan men and boys who were squatting on dirt ground, they listened as a list of their concerns came in a form of questions.
"Are you going to enter our houses?" asked 25-year old Mohammad Nabi, who was there with five of his younger brothers. "We are afraid that you will leave, and the Taliban will come back," he said. And they all described the police as predatory thieves not to be trusted.
Marine officers tried to reassure those around them they would not enter their homes and that they are here to stay throughout their deployment.
In a display of deep misunderstandings that any foreigner is at pains to overcome, an elder with a gray beard asked the Marines whether they will stop them saying prayers.
In describing the Taliban, they compared them to Americans.
"They spend one night in the village and then move onto another village, just as you guys," Nabi said.
Abrashi reported from Kabul. Associated Press writer Amir Shah also contributed from Kabul.
Wiegmann
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