Wire: As Marines Push Into Afghan Town, Fire From '360'

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2009 -- Newswire services this evening reported that U.S. aircraft and missiles pounded Taliban mountainside positions around Dahaneh on Thursday as Marines pushed through mud-brick compounds searching for militants in the second day of fighting to seize the strategic southern town.

Also in the south, four NATO service members -- three British and one American -- were killed in separate explosions Thursday, military officials said.

The Associated Press said August's casualty count is likely to surpass the record 75 deaths U.S. and NATO troops suffered in July, the deadliest month for the international force in the nearly eight-year war.

By Thursday evening, the Marines and Afghan troops had managed to take about half the town, with Taliban resistance tougher than expected, AP said.

AP noted the following details:

As sporadic clashes continued in Dahaneh, Marine Cobra attack helicopters fired rockets at Taliban positions in the nearby mountains where militants were believed firing at troops in the town.

Later, U.S. A-10 fighter-bombers fired multiple rounds into the barren, rocky cliffs overlooking what the Marines call "Hell's Pass," the entrance into the Now Zad valley, and U.S. surface-to-surface missiles, fired from the main Marine base, pounded the hillsides.

Meanwhile in the town, Marines came under heavy machine gun fire as they moved through the streets and alleyways.

"It's coming at us 360 degrees, but we knew they'd try to surround us," said Cpl. Kilani Garber of Middleville, Mich., as the troops ducked for cover.

As they moved through parts of the town abandoned by the Taliban, Marines kicked down or detonated the doors of several compounds from where insurgents were seen firing during the opening day of the assault. In one compound, troops found numerous empty Kalashnikov bullet casings and a few used heroin syringes.

"They want to fight, then they don't want to fight; we're getting mixed signals from these guys," said Cpl. Mack Williams, 22, from Spruce Pine, N.C., as his unit met yet another outburst of light arms fire in the late afternoon.

At sunset, a Humvee mounted with a loudspeaker drove through neighborhoods the Marines had cleared, broadcasting to residents in their Pashto language that they could register complaints and get compensation for damage suffered in the fighting.

About 400 Marines and 100 Afghan troops are taking part in the operation to capture Dahaneh -- the third major push by U.S. and British forces this summer into Taliban-controlled areas of Helmand. The province is the center of Afghanistan's lucrative opium business and scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the Afghan war, AP said.

AP noted that the main goals of the latest operation are to oust the Taliban from the area, cut off smuggling routes from neighboring Pakistan, and offer enough security to civilians so that they can vote during the elections next Thursday. The Marines hope to secure Dahaneh fast enough to set up a voting site, which would be the only one in this district.

(Report from newswire sources.)

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