Spotlight on Afghanistan’s Marjah offensive

While the US media has been diddling around with political barbs and infighting, teleprompters vs palm’prompters, and spinning the stage show that’s the health care bipartisan summit, my mind has been on our US military and NATO troops… including one of our FA own, Old Trooper. The US, NATO and Afghan military have amassed around the village of Marjah to implement Operation Mushtarak, or “Together,” …one leg of the strategy to again seize three key areas of Afghanistan, and beat back the resurgence of the Taliban since NATO took over security in 2006. The overview of the Afghan strategy includes not only the military strategy, discussed here, but “…political development, economic development, counter narcotics, and the Afghanistan police and justice system.”

The McChrystal plan is a short term (12-18 months) “surge” that changes the prior activities of going after the bad guys, and substitutes an aggressive offense to provide security to the Afghans, whom the Taliban have intimidated and brow beaten into submission. As the LongWarJoural article states:

For the short term, the US does not consider it necessary to control the entire country but rather to secure a few key areas and population centers. The goal is for the people of Afghanistan to first see an opportunity for a normal, better future, and then to start to experience it.

The key areas that General McChrystal has identified are:

• Helmand province, particularly the Helmand River valley
• Kandahar City and the areas surrounding the city
• The provinces of Paktika, Paktia, and Khost

The second part of the strategy is to develop the Afghan National Security Force into a force that is capable of providing security for the country. Although ANSF development will not be completed in 18 months, it needs to demonstrate both substantial progress and that the long term goal of the ANSF providing for security for the entire country is achievable. A major review will be held in December 2010 to assess progress.

The Helmand Province is key, being a fertile agricultural area of Afghanistan serving not to supply much needed food for the nation, but poppies for opium for terrorist funding, it’s refinement and storage. With an unused hydroelectric dam Kajak at the northern end of the river valley, the area offers strategic import for a nation’s food belt.

Marjah is also a key point for the Taliban in communications, and transfer of fighting forces, weapons and equipment to and from Pakistan. To seize and control Majah is to put a huge dent in terrorist financing, and thwart an integral supply line.

With civilian population safety being the top concern, the offensive has been telegraphed in advance to allow civilians to escape the battle front. What was not provided to the enemy was the moment the offensive would begin. The roads were jammed for days, only to find they had to sneak out of the village under cover of darkness. The Taliban were reluctant to lose their common and cowardly human shields. Police searched vehicles of those leaving, insuring no militants were bolting the impending theatre. As of Feb 12th, about 450 families (or estimated 2700 people) sought temporary refuge in Lashkar Gah. Local Afghan government were prepared to host another 7000 in another nearby town. The community’s population is estimated at 80,000.

Demonstrating the true cowardice of the Afghan Taliban, a local elder said most had already escaped, leaving mostly the more mad cow ME and Pakistan Taliban ripe for the fight. US intel estimates about 150 foreign fighters among the approximate 1000 Taliban in Marjah.

As Feb 13th dawned, the offensive began, encountering light resistence.

A combined force of more than 6,000, including US Marines, Afghan soldiers, and British troops, kicked off the operation during an air and ground assault in and around the city of Marja in central Helmand province after midnight yesterday. Hundreds of troops were inserted into Marja by helicopter to seize key points within the city.

As the operation began, Coalition aircraft conducted airstrikes on suspected Taliban and al Qaeda positions on the outskirts of the town. The Afghan government and the Coalition have assembled more than 15,000 troops to take on the Taliban in Marja [see list below].

In the initial attack, five Taliban fighters were killed . One British soldier was killed while on patrol during the offensive, the British military reported. Three US soldiers were killed in an IED attack in southern Afghanistan, but it is not clear if they were participating in the operation at Marja.

Taliban resistance has been described as “light” by Major General Gordon Messenger, the top British spokesman.

Another predictable factor is the heavy concentration of IEDs in the outlying areas. Enter the USMC’s massive introduction of the Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABVs). At $3.5 mil per pop, and 70 tons in weight, they are so valuable they aren’t allowed to operate off bases without an ever bigger tank to act as a “tow truck”.

The Assault Breacher Vehicle, or ABV, has been in the works since the late 1990s, and it combines the brawn of an Abram’s tank and its 1,500 horsepower engine with a specially designed 15-foot wide plow to safely clear the minefields and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that the Taliban have laid around Marjah in preparation for the assault. The heavily armored breacher barely shudders when a typical mine detonates on its plow, and when the plow isn’t sufficient for the job, the breachers also carry over 5,000 pounds of specially designed explosives that can be fired into mine fields and safely detonate their deadly contents at a distance.

Initially introduced in December, Marjah is the initial testing ground for it’s effectiveness in reducing casualties for our military. For those with an appreciation of military technology, below is the video of the ABV’s in action. And if you’re a “heavy metal” fan, crank the speakers… LOL.

Mind blowing… and it looks like one heck of a field plow to boot. All I can say is forget GM… I want one of these! But back to the battle, and the progress in what is likely to be weeks to a month in duration.

It’s the second day of fighting for Afghans, US soldiers and NATO. Right now it’s reported to be pockets of Taliban and snipers. US soldiers were conducting door to door searches, using metal detectors and bomb sniffing dogs. Just moving from terrorist compound to compound, they ran into explosives rigged to trigger enroute.

The troops also found two large caches of ammonium nitrate – a common ingredient in explosives – totaling about 8,800 pounds, said Lt. Josh Diddams, a Marine spokesman.

“We’re in the majority of the city at this point,” Diddams said. He said the nature of the resistance has changed from the initial assault, with insurgents now holding ground in some neighborhoods.

“We’re starting to come across areas where the insurgents have actually taken up defensive positions,” he said. “Initially it was more hit and run.”

Additionally, some of the residents have come out of hiding, and are lending their support to the Afghan frontline troops against a common enemy. But that is not the only indication that the locals may be on board with the offensive.

At least two meetings (shuras) have taken place for the Afghan locals, and more planned to come, that center around fast infrastructure repair when the smoke clears, and enlistment of the community around NATO efforts at wresting control from the Taliban.

But even the best intentions have their hiccups, and today the AP runs a headline about a projectile that strayed off course, killing 12 civilians. This is, of course, a regrettable action and collateral damage is a byproduct of every military action.

But while the headline focused on the civilian deaths, there were far more interesting tidbits about the battle conditions for the US Marines doing door to door searches.

Inside Marjah, Marines encountered “death at every corner” in their second day of a massive offensive to capture this bleak mud-brick city filled with booby traps, hardcore Taliban fighters and civilians unsure where to cast their loyalty.

Marines confronted a fierce sandstorm as they ducked in and out of doorways and hid behind bullet-riddled walls to evade sniper fire. To the north, U.S. Army troops fought skirmishes with Taliban fighters, calling in a Cobra attack helicopter against the insurgents.

Insurgents littered the area with booby traps and explosives before the offensive, and the sound of controlled detonations _ about three every hour _ punctuated the day along with mortars and rocket fire.

~~~

To bypass heavily mined bridges, Marine engineers erected their own Vietnam-era metal spans over canals that irrigate opium poppy fields.

As Marines pushed deeper into town, gunfire forced them to take cover in buildings and compounds not yet cleared of booby traps. In one compound, a dog trained to detect explosives discovered a massive bomb hidden in a pile of trash.

The battle becomes even more difficult with the ROEs (Rules of Engagement) that restrict the warriors’ fire only to those firing at them first.

Some troops complained that the strict rules issued by McChrystal to spare civilians were making their job more difficult and dangerous. Under the rules, troops cannot fire at people unless they commit a hostile act or show hostile intent.

U.S. soldiers operating near Marjah said the Taliban can fire on them, then set aside their weapon and walk freely out of a compound, possibly toward a weapons cache in another location.

A few crafty, determined insurgents can keep a larger force engaged for hours with some degree of impunity.

“The inability to stop people who don’t have weapons is the main hindrance right now,” said 1st Lt. Gavin McMahon of Brooklyn, N.Y. McMahon. “They know how to use our ROE against us,” referring to the Rules of Engagement.

Heck of a way to wage battle….

If one considers the official media reports, scarce in today’s MSM, one can possibly measure “success” against the Taliban claims they still control the village. Speaking by phone, Spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi insists that his fighters are “holding their ground”, and that the death count of Taliban casualties is highly exaggerated…. citing only two deaths.

Right… anyone in the betting pool favoring the Taliban vs US military might, supported by Afghan and NATO troops? Didn’t think so….

This offensive marks the first of Obama’s large scale “surge” after taking office. According to the CBS article, linked above, some 15,000 troops are involved, with 7000 to 7500 in Marjah alone. Despite the military’s reality of “doing more with less”, in the wake of shorting commanders on the ground requests for 40k more troops, the current POTUS has scored points with me for following thru on his campaign promise INRE securing Afghanistan. Obama is said to be monitoring Operation Mushtarak closely, and is set for a briefing from McChrystal today – Valentine’s Day.

From here on out? It’s a day to day watch. As I said to my friend, OT, the initial offensive is less concerning to me than the aftermath. As in the days following the deposition of Saddam Hussein, the cockroaches come out from hiding, and wreak their havoc during the rebuilding.

But if Helmand is secured, the Taliban’s communication, financial and weaponry supply line is severed, and the population can focus on feeding their nation in their fertile farmland, then perhaps Afghanistan, too, can have a shot at being a sovereign Muslim democracy.