Sangin

Reconnaissance Marines gain 'Black Diamond' nickname from Taliban

By Dan Lamothe on December 15, 2010 Afghanistan, Infantry, Marjah, Reconnaissance, Sangin

The Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion are expected to return this week from Afghanistan to Camp Pendleton, Calif., after a seven-month deployment. They were replaced during a relief in place ceremony at Camp Leatherneck last week with 2nd Recon, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. First Recon deployed in the spring, and was quickly dispatched to areas surrounding the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah. They eventually also played a role in Sangin, where Marines have faced a tough fight in the last few months. At the time, Marjah district was likely the most dangerous place in Helmand province for Marines, and…

Death toll for 3/5 in Sangin reaches 19 Marines

By Dan Lamothe on December 8, 2010 Afghanistan, Infantry, Marjah, Sangin

Maj. Gen. Richard Mills held a press conference from Afghanistan with reporters at the Pentagon yesterday, generating a flurry of headlines about the war. Many of the stories focused on the general’s bold claim that the battle in Marjah district is “essentially over.” Most engagements with the enemy are now on the outskirts of the district, from which the Taliban still launches attacks from neighboring deserts, Mills said. “He still comes out of his hole every once in a while from the desert, comes into town and takes the odd shot at us, but in effect, he has lost the ability…

Sangin insurgents target Marines on foot with IEDs, too

By Dan Lamothe on October 20, 2010 Afghanistan, Infantry, Sangin

When Marines pushed into Afghanistan’s Sangin district this summer, it was widely predicted that things would be difficult. The district, in northern Helmand province, had been a notoriously dangerous area for British troops. In four years patrolling Sangin, 106 British troops died, including 36 this year, according to this Daily Mail report. British forces ceded control of Sangin to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., last month, concentrating their forces instead in Lashkar Gah, Helmand’s provincial capital — and a place far more stable than Sangin. That’s relevant background when considering the awful news out Sangin within the last week. Nine…

Brits leave Marines in charge of Sangin

By Dan Lamothe on September 21, 2010 Afghanistan, Infantry, Sangin, The CMC

Marine forces formally took over Sangin yesterday, assuming control of the former Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan from Great Britain’s 40 Commando, a Royal Marine unit that has been patrolling the area for months. The change is significant, even if it has received only limited attention in the U.S. mainstream media. The Brits are leaving Sangin, in northern Helmand province, after four years and 106 deaths — 36 of which occurred this year, according to a Daily Mail report out today. Their struggles to establish and maintain security in the district of about 50,000 people has contributed to growing discontent…

Marines face sniper attacks in Sangin

By Dan Lamothe on August 19, 2010 Afghanistan, Infantry, Sangin

Earlier this year, I dove into the world of chasing Taliban snipers while embedded in Afghanistan’s violent Marjah district. It’s still one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. I bring that up because it’s worth noting that while sniper fire in Marjah has even been raised as an issue on Capitol Hill by Commandant Gen. James Conway, it’s certainly not a problem unique to that area. As the Wall Street Journal points out in a story today, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., has faced the same danger recently in Sangin, another former Taliban stronghold in northern Helmand…

Browsing: Sangin