MARJAH, Afghanistan — After a fierce gunfight, U.S. Marines on Friday seized a strongly defended compound that appears to have been a Taliban headquarters — complete with photos of fighters posing with their weapons, dozens of Taliban-issued ID cards and graduation diplomas from a training camp in Pakistan.
Insurgents who had been using the field office just south of Marjah’s town center abandoned it by the end of the day’s fighting, as Marines converged on them from all sides, escalating operations to break resistance in this Taliban stronghold in southern Helmand province.
Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines fought their way south from the town center Friday after residents told them that several dozen insurgent fighters had regrouped in the area.
Throughout the day, small groups of Taliban marksmen tried to slow the advance with rifle fire as they fell back in face of the Marine assault.
“They know that they are outnumbered, . . . and that in the end, they don’t have the firepower to compete with us conventionally,” said Capt. Joshua Winfrey of Tulsa, Okla., commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines.
As the Marines advanced, they found rows of abandoned bunkers dug alongside an irrigation canal that the Taliban had used to fire on them the day before. Just behind the bunkers, the Marines found a compound, surrounded by a mudbrick wall, typical of family homes in the town.
NATO said one service member died Friday in a small-arms attack but did not identify the victim by nationality.
Six coalition troops were killed Thursday, NATO said, making it the deadliest day since the offensive began Feb. 13. The death toll for the operation stands at 12 NATO troops and one Afghan soldier.
