As you may have seen today in this story, Marine officials in Afghanistan released to me statistics outlining enemy-initiated attacks. The numbers compared 2011 and 2012 by district, shedding light on an interesting period of transition in southwestern Afghanistan. My story on the subject is posted here. We’ve also posted the whole slide that I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) released, so you can check out the details yourself. Among the details that stuck out for me: Sangin Lt. Col. David Bradney, head of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, told me in an interview in October that his Marines had “punched them…
Browsing: Nahr-e Saraj
The more things change, the more they remain the same. Nearly five years after Marines first kicked in the door in Helmand province, the area remains one Afghanistan’s most violent, according to a new Defense Department report released Monday. In fact, Helmand is home to Afghanistan’s most violent district — Nahr-e Saraj — and eight of the 10 most violent districts overall. Those details are outlined in a Pentagon publication released for Congress. Nahr-e Saraj was the site of 10 percent of all enemy initiated attacks in Afghanistan from April to October of this year despite being home to less…
The Darkside is coming home. Third Battalion, 4th Marines, will return to their base at Twentynine Palms, Calif., next week following a trying seven-month deployment in Afghanistan. The unit saw heavy combat while patrolling The Upper Gereshk Valley and Nahr-e Saraj district, an area of northern Helmand province just south of volatile Sangin district. Five* members of the battalion died and dozens more were wounded during the deployment, Marine officials said in a news release announcing the unit’s return to California. They handed over control of the area to a joint Afghan-British force headed by 42 Commando, a Royal Marine…