#operation moshtarak

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On February 13, 2010, U.S. and NATO troops launched Operation Moshtarak, which was a crucial offensive against the Taliban's last biug stronghold of Marjah, Afghanistan.

Pictured above: U.S. Marines with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, react to incoming Taliban fire during combat operations in Marjah, Afghanistan, February, 2010.

The Marines and sailors with 1/6 took part in Operation Moshtarak, which was the second largest offensive in the history of Operation Enduring Freedom and was aimed at wresting the city of Marjah from Taliban control.

(Photo by LCpl Andres J. Lugo)

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In a counterinsurgency, you’re only as good as the government you support, and in Marjah, the government didn’t have the support of the people.

David Kilcullen. Quoted in “A look at how the US-Led coalition lost Afghanistan’s Marjah district to the Taliban.” Stars and Stripes, 1 Jan. 2016.

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Cpl. Thomas Gibbons-Neff, assigned to 1st battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, awaits orders while standing in the courtyard of a house his unit used as a temporary base of operations, during Operation Moshtarek in Marjah, Afghanistan, February 2010.

(Photo by Bryan Denton)

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U.S. Marines from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, Lance Corporal Chris Sanderson (rear) and Sergeant Travis Dawson (front) protect an Afghan man and his child after Taliban fighters opened fire in the town of Marjah, in Nad Ali district of Helmand province, February 2010.

(Photo by Goran Tomasevic/REUTERS)

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Lance Cpl. Daniel Garner (left) and Lance Cpl. Chris Ducharme, both with 3rd Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, investigate a possible improvised explosive device while on a patrol in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, on February 22, 2010.

U.S. Marines and Afghan National Army soldiers patrolled through a residential area of the city to carry out counterinsurgency operations as part of Operation Moshtarak.

(Photo by LCpl. Tommy Bellegarde)

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U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, take cover behind a berm after receiving accurate fire from Taliban forces in the city of Marja, Afghanistan on February 13, 2010, during Operation Moshtarak.

(Photo by LCpl. James Clark/USMC)

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Lance Cpl. Chase Welch yells to his team between firing burst from his M-249 SAW during a firefight with the Taliban in city of Marjah, Afghanistan, February 2010. U.S. Marines and Afghan forces continued Operation Moshtarak, meaning “joint operation,” to retake the city of Marja from Taliban forces.

The operation was largest of war since the invasion, and Marja — long outside of Afghan Government control — was the Taliban’s las major stronghold in Helmand Province.

Assault Breaching Vehicles crossed the heavily IED’s outskirts of the city, using Mine Clearing Line Charges (MICLIC), 150m 1750 lbs cables of C4 explosive that detonate, and clear a path of IED’s and other obstacles in the process. Marines of Charlie Company 1 Infantry, 6th Marine Regiment will follow, clearing the city of Taliban insurgents.

(Photo by Bryan Denton)

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Gunnery Sgt. Troy W. Gans, platoon sergeant for Combined Anti-Armor Team 1, Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, walks through a dry irrigation canal on February 14, 2010, during a patrol with Marines of Charlie Company, 1/3.

During the patrol, Marines made their first contact with village elders in the Five Points area before engaging with Taliban fighters.

(Photo courtesy of USMC)