Afghan National Army soldiers arrive at the ANA Camp Shorab near Camp Bastian during the second day of the joint NATO-Afghan Operation Moshtarak on Feb. 14, 2010. The operation has put as many as 15,000 coalition troops against up to 2,000 Taliban fighters.
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Afghan boys wait to be evacuated to a safer area as U.S. Marines battle insurgents on the outskirts of Marjah on Feb. 9, 2010, after seizing a major junction in the northeast section of the city. Operations in Marjah were, unusually, widely publicized ahead of the start of the offensive.
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A U.S. marine watches an Afghan family evacuate their home in Trikh Nawar, a farmland area on the northeast side of Marjah on Feb. 17, 2010. Marjah and the surrounding areas are said to have some 125,000 residents, few of whom fled ahead of the start of the operations.
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U.S. Marines guard a man found hiding in an irrigation canal as Marines battle insurgents in Marjah on Feb. 14, 2010. The farmer, suspected to be a Taliban spotter, was searched and then released. Operations in Marjah have been complicated by the challenge of fording the irrigation canals and a landscape sometimes knee-deep with mud.
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An Afghan boy walks past Afghan soldiers while U.S. Marines meet with the elders of Trikh Nawar, in an agricultural area in northeast Marjah on Feb. 15, 2010.
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U.S. Marines control Trikh Nawar on Feb. 16, 2010.
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An Afghan family watches U.S. Marines patrolling in Trikh Nawar on Feb. 16, 2010. Around 1,100 families have left Marjah since the start of the operations on Feb. 13.
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Afghan villagers gather in Qari Saheb village of Nad-e Ali district in Helmand province during the second day of joint Operation Moshtarak on Feb. 14, 2010. Tribal elders have been meeting with Afghan and U.S. officials to discuss the offensive.
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A U.S. Marine lieutenant issues orders as Marines come under Taliban sniper fire on the northeast of Marjah on Feb. 14, 2010. Taliban fighters in some areas of Marjah have put up strong resistance with sniper fire, booby traps, and roadside bombs.
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U.S. Marines practice a 21-gun salute for two soldiers killed by an IED the previous week at Fiddler's Green camp on the outskirts of Marjah on Jan. 29, 2010.
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