marines 1st battalion, 5th marine regiment talk leaders @ meeting in nawa district during operation strike of sword.
by spring of 2009 helmand perceived being 1 of key centers of taliban movement. june 2009 on 10,000 marines had poured southern afghanistan, first wave of president obama promised 21,000 strong surge. marines planned series of operations assault taliban strongholds , consolidate afghan government s position in region. first operation strike of sword, target taliban positions in nawa-i-barakzayi , garmsir. according marine brigadier general larry nicholson, operation aimed improve security ahead of presidential elections, allowing voter registration before there none. bbc said while official goal of operation, real goal change momentum of war, had favored taliban, , create perception security in afghanistan improving.
on july 2, hundreds of marines 1st battalion, 5th marines lifted helicopter district, encountering sporadic resistance. conflict began around 1:00 local time when marines dropped ch-47s , uh-60s helicopters of 82nd airborne division, dirt fields around district capital of nawa-i-barakzayi. first shots of operation fired @ daybreak (around 6:15 am) when marine unit received small-arms fire tree-line. cobra attack helicopters called in , made strafing runs @ tree line fire coming from. marines encountered group of 20 militants holed in mud-brick compound. marines refrained calling in fixed-wing airstrike , instead used 20mm guns ah-1w supercobra helicopter gunships avoid risk of civilian casualties. militants managed escape. taliban forces withdrew marjah while observing marines.
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