MARJAH, Afghanistan — Outnumbered and outgunned, Taliban fighters are mounting a tougher fight than expected in Marjah, Afghan officials said Sunday, as U.S.-led forces converged on a pocket of militants in a western section of the town.
Despite ongoing fighting, the newly appointed civilian chief for Marjah said he plans to fly into the town today for the first time since the attack to begin restoring Afghan government control and winning over the population after years of Taliban rule.
With fighter jets, drones and attack helicopters roaring overhead, Marine and Afghan companies advanced Sunday on a 2-square-mile area where more than 40 insurgents were thought to be holed up.
“They are squeezed,” said Lt. Col. Brian Christmas, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. “It looks like they want to stay and fight, but they can always drop their weapons and slip away. That’s the nature of this war.”
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the U.S. and its allies had expected the Taliban to leave behind thousands of hidden explosives, which they did. But they were surprised to find that so many militants stayed to fight.
In a statement Sunday, NATO acknowledged that insurgents were putting up a “determined resistance” in various parts of Marjah, although the overall offensive is “on track.”
NATO said one service member died in a roadside bombing Sunday, bringing the number of international troops killed in the operation to 13. At least one Afghan soldier has been confirmed dead. Senior Marine officers say intelligence reports suggest more than 120 insurgents have died.
Early today, the Afghan Interior Ministry said a NATO airstrike in southern Afghanistan has killed at least 21 civilians.
NATO forces confirmed in a statement that its planes fired Sunday on a group of vehicles that it believed contained insurgents who were about to attack its forces, only to discover later that women and children were in the cars.
The Afghan government and NATO have launched an investigation.
