US Marines fight fierce battle with the Taliban in Helmand

Footage has been released showing US forces attacking a Taliban compound in Now Zad, Helmand province, Afghanistan. The dramatic pictures shot by a cameraman embedded with US troops shows them engaging in a fierce gun and rocket battle, before Dutch fighter jets bombed the area. The mission's aim was to gather intelligence and draw a response from enemy positions close to a street called "Pakistani Alley" after reports that fighters from across the border had dug in there. US troop vehicles were heading to inspect a suspected tunnel when the Taliban struck, firing mortars that landed close by. Hours of exchanges followed, with the Taliban opening fire with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, machine-gun fire and rockets. Dutch fighter jets were eventually called in and dropped laser-guided bombs on the compound, sending clouds of dust mushrooming into the air. The compound was then attacked by US missiles and Harrier fighter jets. There were no confirmed Taliban casualties, but observers later spotted a funeral, and video images suggested others were killed in the aerial attacks. Like much of Afghanistan, Now Zad and the surrounding area were largely peaceful after the 2001 invasion. But in 2006 - with the focus of the coalition forces on Iraq - the insurgency stepped up in the south. Almost all the city's 35,000 people fled, along with aid workers. The Marines, which now outnumber the Taliban in the area by at least three-to-one, have vastly superior weapons but avoid offensive operations because they lack the manpower to hold territory once they take it - there are no Afghan police or troops there to help. But in the first wave of the troop surge, 10,000 Marines are beginning to spread out, taking territory in Now Zad and other districts in Helmand and Farah provinces.

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ITN | June 22, 2009

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