'The Coalition “Spring Offensive” Across Afghanistan'

Very nice piece of work by a videojournalist and blogger--note Norwegians in combat and US Marines with US Army and Italians in the west (h/t to GAP at Milnet.ca):

It isn’t clear just how much of May’s combat action was coordinated among allies, but what is clear is that the offensive initiated by various coalition forces, around the same time, has the Taliban taking heavy casualties as the fighting season picks up steam.

US/British Efforts in S. Helmand

June 1st - Allied forces launch another operation in Garmser as British troops seal the right flank of BLT 1/6, allowing the American Marines to push farther down the Helmand River valley toward the Pakistani border. The offensive, which is in the heart of the insurgency’s drug trade, is forcing Taliban fighters toward Farah Province to the west. The joint force retook the district center, in early May, killing as many as 150 Taliban during the course of more than 100 engagements.

Australian and Dutch Forces Push Deep Into Oruzgan

May 28th - A combined ISAF/Afghan force is driving deep into Oruzgan Province to stabilize the Baluchi Pass area, a region that has claimed a number of allied lives and is a know Taliban haven.

Norway Gets into the Fight in Baghdis Province

May 23rd - Norwegian forces, with support from Germany, launch a 10-day operation in Baghdis Province, killing as many as 50 insurgents.

June 2nd - ISAF airstrikes supporting Afghan Security Forces kill 55 insurgents in Baghdis Province.

Americans Keep Up the Pressure in Nuristan

US and Afghan forces air assault into the Gowerdesh Valley to regain control of a strategic bridge.

Regaining Control of Farah Province

US and Italian soldiers are reinforced through the summer by elements from a battalion of US Marines. 2/7 Marines started combat patrols in the province in early May. The Marines are tasked with helping train the police force across Regional Command South. A company of Marines is expected to deploy to Golestan district by late June. Farah is a province that has had a history of lawlessness and outright Taliban control.

Coalition forces in Farah are blocking retreating Taliban forces coming from Helmand:

May 24th - 12 Taliban are killed in Bala Buluk when a US/Afghan patrol came under fire. The two-hour fight also left two Afghan police dead.

May 28th - NATO airstrikes kill as many as 30 Taliban in Bala Buluk. Two Afghan policeman and one Afghan soldier are also killed.

May 29th - The coalition pressure continues to the south of Bala Buluk as they take Bakwa District back from the Taliban who have been in control almost a year. The fighting leaves more than 100 Taliban and one American dead.

Canada Launches a Major Effort in Kandahar

May 28th - Canadian soldiers launch a weeklong offensive into Zhari, Dand and Panjwaii districts, Kandahar Province, in an effort to disrupt insurgent bomb-making facilities. No Canadiens were killed even with troops being regularly engaged by the Taliban. 19 militants were killed, including Taleb leader Mullah Tor Agha, in the operation code named, “Rolling Thunder”.

US and Afghan Forces Retake District Center in Ghazni Province

May 30th - A joint US/Afghan force moved into Rashidan district to wrest control of the district center back from the Taliban. Four Afghan policemen were killed. Several are still missing.

Update: From that great supporter of US military action, the NY Times (Carlotta Gall, say no more):

Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan are fleeing to the Pakistani border after being routed in recent operations by the United States Marines, the American commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said on Monday.

Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been clearing Taliban and foreign fighters from the district of Garmser, in southern Helmand Province, an important infiltration and drug trafficking route used by the Taliban to supply insurgents farther north.

“The insurgents, after experiencing these several weeks of pressure below Garmser, are trying to flee to the south, perhaps to go back to the sanctuaries in another country,” said the NATO commander, Gen. Dan K. McNeill.

He did not name Pakistan, but Helmand Province shares a border with Pakistan, and the Taliban and drug traffickers have long used refugee camps across the border as a sanctuary from American firepower.

The governor of the province, Muhammad Gulab Mangal, also spoke of the rout of the Taliban.

“For the last two days we have information that Taliban are escaping to the border areas,” he said...

That spring offensive may be for real. Meanwhile the British media are as generally blindfolded as our own about who is doing what (h/t to Celestial Junk).

Upperdate: A map done by reader Dave to illustrate the first part of the post:



Uppestdate: Some PR work needed here:

2/7 conducts first combat patrol in support of OEF

Odd that one thought the Marines were under ISAF, not Centcom. Get the message down. As compared to the news clamp on the CF.