MARJAH, Afghanistan — U.S. and Afghan troops moved into two key parts of Marjah on Tuesday in an effort to restart government services and confront Taliban holdouts who continue to shoot at coalition forces.
Facing little resistance, troops secured the central police station and the area where they hope to build a municipal building, moving west by foot on a mine-infested road to achieve a key objective of U.S. commanders.
To the north, in the chockablock Koru Chreh bazaar area, where troops had been subjected to repeated small-arms fire and grenade attacks since they arrived Saturday, several hundred U.S. Marines conducted a day-long operation to target insurgent gunmen and sweep for makeshift bombs. A second Marine company was moved to the Koru Chreh area Monday because of the intensity of the fighting there.
The beefed-up presence led to a drop in attacks. Although there were several exchanges of gunfire, none of the engagements was significant.
Commanders reported five insurgents killed by Marine snipers.
As Marines were inspecting the bazaar, a platoon leader saw a long piece of what appeared to be new wire wrapped around a pole. When ordnance-disposal technicians were called in to investigate, they found eight mortars daisy-chained in an attempt to attack multiple vehicles in a convoy.
Much of the Marine activity in the Koru Chreh area focused on a mission to sweep a residential area north of the bazaar that troops have taken to calling the Pork Chop. Marines and Afghan soldiers stealthily scurried along a series of labyrinthine alleys, knocking down doors and searching abandoned housing compounds for insurgents.
By the end of the day, the Marines had cleared about a third of the Pork Chop without any major incidents.
The lack of firefights proved to be a disappointment for some Marines, but the commander of the operation said he was pleased that the insurgents did not make a stand.
“For us, just pushing them out of town is enough,” said Capt. Ryan Sparks, who leads Bravo Company from the 1st Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment. “Our goal is to take care of the people, not kill the Taliban.”
