Marjah, Afghanistan

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March 15, 2010 • Genevieve DeVille  
Filed under BuccaNews

        In recent news, you may have seen that an additional 30,000 U.S. and 15,000 Afghan and British led NATO forces have invaded the insurgent Taliban-ridden and opium-trafficking city of Marjah, Afghanistan. This offensive, Operation Moshtarak, held in the Helmand Province, is one of the largest counter-insurgency offensives in the eight-year-long war. Before the launch of this operation, General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, met with 450 tribal elders and scholars from the Helmand province in Kabul, Afghanistan to discuss their intentions for the city. After broadcasting and warning the Taliban of their invasion, military commanders stayed true to their word and entered the area on February 17th in order to secure the city and hang the Afghan flag in the square. Because this is a “new war,” the soldiers were hoping that the Taliban, as well as civilians would flee the city, and therefore there would be few casualties. As planned, about 10, 000 Taliban including many of their generals fled up north, while 400 to 1,000 insurgents stayed to fight for the city.  Firefights still broke out throughout the city and held up the U.S. and Afghan troops in their barrack. This operation is significantly different from others because the fighting is done much like the fighting of our fathers and grandfathers: on foot, and hand-to-hand combat. The temperatures get down to freezing at night and the men usually do not carry their sleeping bags with them. They trek miles and miles with a hundred pounds on them, through mud and in heat of the desert. With phone and internet lines constantly down because of the incoming mortar fire and the lack of postal service in the city, contact to soldiers’ families and loved ones is held to a minimum. All in all, this is a grueling fight that is not expected to end very soon; however, our troops and leaders are confident that there will be a positive future for Afghanistan.