Operation Moshtarak continues in Marjah Afghanistan
Here is a summary of the action to date. Follow the links for more information.
Operation Moshtarak, the Afghan-led initiative to assert government authority in the center of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, completed its first day of clearing operations yesterday, military officials reported.
An early morning air insertion of Afghan and international forces before 6 a.m. included helicopters, A-10s, Tornadoes and C-130 aircraft. Afghan soldiers then had at least two meetings with local leaders, one in Nad-e Ali and one in Marja, to explain the operation and establish themselves on the ground. Discussions with local Afghans have been assessed as good, officials said, and more such meetings are anticipated in the coming days.
Early yesterday morning, Helmand Gov. Mangal and Afghan national army Brig. Gen. Zazai, 205th Atal Corps commander, addressed the media during a news conference in Lashkar Gah. In the evening, representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the U.N. World Food Program, the World Health Organization and local nongovernmental organizations reported that no increase has been observed in Afghans leaving Nad-e Ali as a result of the operation.
Afghan and International Security Assistance Force troops in both Nad-e Ali and Marja found a number of stockpiles of bomb-making equipment and weapons .
Today, February 14 2010, a combined Afghan-ISAF patrol found more than 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate and other bomb-making materials while clearing a compound in Marja. Acting on a tip from a local resident, another Afghan-ISAF force found about 300 yards of detonation cord wrapped in plastic in a canal, also in Helmand’s Garm Ser district.
Also today, a combined Afghan-ISAF patrol found two 155 mm artillery rounds, four pressure plates, blasting caps and batteries in Helmand’s Nad-e Ali district.
Operation Moshtarak, the Afghan-led initiative to assert government authority in the centre of Helmand province has completed its first day of “clearing” operations Feb. 13 2010.
The Feb. 13 air insertion over Central Helmand included helicopters, A-10s, Tornadoes and C-130 Hercules aircraft. The waves of aircraft-borne troop insertions of Afghan national army, United States and United Kingdom soldiers were completed by 5:55 a.m. local time.
Since then, at least two shuras have been held with local Afghans – one in Nad-e Ali and one in Marjah. The ANA have been meeting with local Afghans and establishing themselves on the ground.
Discussions with local Afghans have been assessed as good, and more shuras are anticipated in the coming days. [snip]
A number of IED-making equipment and weapons caches have been found by ANSF and ISAF troops in both Nad-e Ali and Marjah.
Navy hospital corpsmen of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, replace the field dressings of Azerha, a 4-year-old Afghan girl injured by a piece of shrapnel from an explosion near her home Feb. 10. Azerha's brother, Quassiam, brought her for medical treatment to the Marine encampment at the Five Points intersection, a key junction of roads between Marjeh and Nawa. Azerha was flown to a medical trauma facility and is expected to make a full recovery. Photo by Sgt. Brian Tuthill
Navy Corpsmen Save Injured Afghan Girl in Marjah
When a 4-year-old Afghan girl named Azerha was struck by shrapnel Feb. 10, her brother Quassiam did the only thing he could think of – approach a group of armed Marines miles away and ask for medical assistance.
He drove his sister east from near the city of Marjah toward an intersection known as “Five Points,” a key intersection of roads connecting northern Marjah with the eastern areas of Helmand province. Marines and Sailors of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, seized the Five Points area the day prior during a helicopter-borne assault.
Azerha had been struck in the chest by a fragment of metal from an improvised explosive device using 82 mm mortar rounds which detonated near her home. The wound had caused bleeding and breathing problems for Azerha by the time she arrived, Navy corpsman reported as they examined and began to stabilize her for a medical evacuation to a medical trauma facility.
“When the car came and I approached the vehicle, I saw the blood coming from her chest,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Eric E. Casasflores, 30, an independent duty corpsman assigned to Charlie Co., 1/3. “I could see there was a small wound where something had penetrated. Once we put the dressing on, she began having more trouble breathing and I determined we needed to medevac her.”
While waiting inside the walls of a farming compound for a helicopter to arrive, corpsmen treating Azerha found that her lung was beginning to collapse. Between the time her flight was scheduled to arrive and her worsening symptoms, Casasflores, the senior corpsman on scene, decided they had to act quickly to stabilize their patient.
“Her vitals began to drop while we were waiting for the medevac and we had to do a needle decompression,” said Casasflores, who was born in Lima, Peru, but calls Newark, N.J., home. “She wasn’t bleeding very badly, but with almost any trauma to the chest, you have to do a needle decompression [to allow the lung to expand again].”
“She took it extremely well for a small child,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Adam E. Neep, a field hospital corpsman with Weapons Company, 1/3. “For taking a big needle through her chest, she barely fussed.”
Cpl. Alton S. Floyd, a wrecker operator for Alpha Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, rests after working to build multiple makeshift bridges in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 11. During the construction of their last bridge, Alpha Company encountered an improvised explosive device, no Marines were injured. Floyd, 25, is from Atlanta, Ga. Photo by Lance Cpl. Walter Marino
Marine Engineers Survive Marjah Blast
Marines from Alpha Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, worked tirelessly from early morning to the mid-afternoon Feb. 11, building makeshift bridges over canals to provide a route for Marines and vehicles to enter the known Taliban stronghold of Marjah.
After completion of their last makeshift bridge, Marines had just boarded their vehicles, when suddenly a loud explosion erupted from behind one of their trucks.
Mud chunks fell from the sky like rain. But, no Marines were hurt. Fortunately, Alpha Company had boarded their vehicles moments before the blast.
“The blast made my heart jump. It was a reality check,” said Sgt. Jonathan J. Sanabria, a truck master for Alpha Company. “Everyone is real lucky.”
Table of contents for Marjah
- Intense Fighting in Marjah Afghanistan
- Royal Navy Medic Kate Nesbitt Awarded Military Cross
- Operation Moshtarak continues in Marjah Afghanistan
- Operation Moshtarak update for February 16
- Videos about the Marjah operation – Operation Moshtarak
- Army aviation supports Marines and Afghan Army in Marjah
- Operation Moshtarak gains in Marjah – February 19
- Marjah and Operation Moshtarak update February 21
- Operation Moshtarak in Marjah – update for February 25
- Royal Engineers help rebuild Nad’e Ali
- Operation Moshtarak – Marjah – update for March 3
the attachments to this post:
Cpl Alton S Floyd
wounded Afghan girls tended to by Marines
