Hundreds of US marines return to Helmand area

Troops will train, assist and provide advice on missions

LASHKAR GAH // US marines yesterday returned to Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand province as Afghan security forces struggle to repel the Taliban. In Helmand, American troops had faced heated fighting until Nato’s combat mission ended in 2014.

The deployment of about 300 marines to the poppy-growing southern province came a day after the militants announced the start of their “spring offensive”, and as the Trump administration seeks to craft a new strategy in Afghanistan.

Gen John Nicholson, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, attended a handover ceremony marking the return of the first marines in Afghanistan since 2014.

Part of a regular troop rotation announced in January under the Obama administra- tion, the marines will arrive in stages and participate in Nato’s train, assist and advise mission.

For years, Helmand was the centrepiece of the US and British military intervention in Afghanistan – only for the country to slip deeper into a quagmire of instability.

The Taliban effectively con- trol or contest 10 of Helmand’s 14 districts, with the province blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps to fund the insurgency. About 30,000 people fled fighting in the province last year, mostly seeking refuge in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah, which was at times practically besieged.

The United States has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan, working with about 5,000 troops from Nato allies. These forces are mostly taking part in the alliance’s training mission. US defence chief Jim Mattis warned of “another tough year” in Afghanistan when he visited Kabul last week as part of the Trump administration’s review of Afghan policy.

Gen Nicholson has called for a few thousand more troops to help break the “stalemate”. Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, a retired Afghan general in Kabul, was optimistic.

“If the Afghan forces and the US marines jointly fight the phenomenon of the terrorism in southern Helmand, we will have tangible results,” he said.

The Taliban have intensified attacks, leaving Afghan forces – already beset by killings, desertions, and vacuums in leadership and morale – stretched on several fronts and facing soaring casualties.

Last week, the Taliban delivered a stinging blow as some of its fighters, dressed in Afghan army uniforms, killed at least 135 young Afghan army recruits at a northern base, according to official figures.

But several sources said the death toll was much higher.

The attack was believed to be the deadliest by the Taliban on a military target since they were driven from power in 2001. The extremist militants vowed to stage more attacks in announcing the start of their so-called “spring offensive” on Friday.

The Taliban effectively control or contest 10 of Helmand’s 14 districts