MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. and Afghan forces have taken control of the main roads, bridges and government centers of the Taliban haven of Marjah, the top Marine commander in southern Afghanistan said Thursday, though he added that pockets of insurgents remain.
"I'd say we control the spine" of the town, Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson told The Associated Press as he inspected the Marines' front line in the north of the town. "We're where we want to be.
" After six days of a massive NATO offensive, Marines and their Afghan counterparts succeeded in their initial military objectives, he said: They now control all access points into town, the government centers and the main markets, and the key roads that crisscross the 80-square-mile area. As Nicholson spoke, bursts of heavy machine gunfire in the near distance highlighted that insurgents still hold terrain less than a mile away. (20 images)
"I'd say we control the spine" of the town, Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson told The Associated Press as he inspected the Marines' front line in the north of the town. "We're where we want to be.
" After six days of a massive NATO offensive, Marines and their Afghan counterparts succeeded in their initial military objectives, he said: They now control all access points into town, the government centers and the main markets, and the key roads that crisscross the 80-square-mile area. As Nicholson spoke, bursts of heavy machine gunfire in the near distance highlighted that insurgents still hold terrain less than a mile away. (20 images)
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U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment pack their gear under red light head lamps at a forward operating campsite in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Thursday Feb. 18, From right to left are Staff Sgt. Matthew Campbell, Staff Sgt. Eric Brown, and an unidentified Marine. AP / David Guttenfelder
U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment warm themselves around a fire as they burn their ration boxes in the early morning in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Wednesday Feb. 17. AP / David Guttenfelder
A U.S. Marine dog handler sits with his bomb-sniffing working dog aboard a helicopter during a medevac mission of the U.S. Army's Task Force Pegasus, on the southern end of Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Wednesday Feb. 17. The dog, which had stopped functioning well due to likely PTSD, according to his handler, was evacuated along with a wounded Afghan civilian by TF Pegasus. AP / Brennan Linsley
U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher Whitman, from Clearwater, Fla., and from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment kicks in a door to search a compound while on a patrol in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Wednesday Feb. 17. AP / David Guttenfelder
An Afghan man comes out of the building as U.S. soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, sit during a foot patrol in the Badula Qulp area, West of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17. AP / Pier Paolo Cito
U.S. Marines with NATO forces stand guard on a temporary military bridge in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17. AP / Altaf Qadri
U.S. Marines, followed by Afghan soldiers, walk in Marjah, Helmand province, south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday, Feb. 17. AP / Abdul Khaleq
Golab Mangal governor of Helmand province, extreme right, visits Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17. AP / Altaf Qadri
U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment warm themselves by a fire in a compound in the early morning in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Tuesday Feb. 16. AP / David Guttenfelder
A U.S. Marine from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment peers out from a hole in a wall of a compound in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Tuesday Feb. 16. AP / David Guttenfelder
A U.S. Marine from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment walks past an Afghan cemetery in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Tuesday Feb. 16. AP / David Guttenfelder
An Afghan villages listen to a tribal leader, not seen, during a jirga, a tribal assembly of elders, at a mosque in village Qari Sahib, Nad Ali district, Helmend province, southern Afghanistan, Monday, Feb. 15. AP / Altaf Qadri
U.S. Marine armored vehicles and troopers are pictured in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Monday Feb. 15. Thousands of U.S. and Afghan troops are attempting to gain control over the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, encountering sniper fire, home-made bombs, booby traps, and minefields. AP / Brennan Linsley
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., with Task Force Pegasus, runs from his helicopter to evacuate two U.S. Marine casualties from the battlefield in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Monday Feb. 15. AP / Brennan Linsley
Airborne in a Black Hawk medevac helicopter, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., left, and Crew Chief Spc. Timothy Johns, of Mitchell, S.D., both with Task Force Pegasus, rescue two U.S. Marine casualties from the battlefield in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Monday Feb. 15. AP / Brennan Linsley
U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment peer out from holes in a compound wall during a firefight with Taliban fighters in the town of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Monday Feb. 15. AP / David Guttenfelder
U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment take positions in a compound during a firefight with Taliban fighters in the town of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Monday Feb. 15. AP / David Guttenfelder
U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment fire machine guns as another Marine leaps over a canal ditch during a firefight as Taliban fighters fire on them in the town of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Monday Feb. 15. AP / David Guttenfelder
U.S. soldiers and one Afghan soldier exchange fire with insurgents during a patrol in the Badula Qulp area, West of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 14. In the fight, one soldier was wounded and at least one insurgent was killed. The soldiers are operating in support of a U.S. Marine offensive against the Taliban in Marjah area. AP / Pier Paolo Cito
A U.S. soldier returns fire as others run for cover during a firefight with insurgents in the Badula Qulp area, west of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 14. AP / Pier Paolo Cito
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