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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: Isolated US convoys in Afghanistan ambush targets AFP - Sunday, July 12 KOSHTAY, Afghanistan (AFP) - - Stranded for three days on a single stretch of road in southern Afghanistan, the US Marines wondered why they had not been ambushed by the Taliban -- and then finally the attack came. ADVERTISEMENT Rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small-arms fire were directed at the convoy, which responded with shoulder-launched missiles, grenades and machinegun fire, an AFP reporter travelling with the Marines witnessed. The strike at the troops late Friday came from a mud-walled compound 150 metres from the dirt road on which the US vehicles were stuck by IEDs (improvised explosive devices) planted both in front and behind them. The 1st Combat Engineer Battalion were trying to open up the route into the south of Helmand province as part of President Barack Obama's new Afghan strategy, but they had been halted by a series of IED blasts since Wednesday. IED damage to two vehicles left the convoy unable to advance and the Marines spent long days and nights either on guard or crammed into their armour-plated trucks, waiting for a Taliban ambush. They observed all local residents through their gun sights, and fired flares to warn off approaching vehicles. An interpreter shouted at curious children to return to their homes. The insurgents' attack started with small arms fire, followed by mortars and then two rockets that narrowly missed one of the convoy's trucks. "We took contact from the compound," said Staff Sergeant Earl Hewett, covered in sweat and dust after the fight. "One of their rockets landed near a truck and destroyed its tyre, but that was the only thing that was hit. "We fired four rockets in all and several hundred grenade and machinegun rounds. It shows how thick the compound's walls must be as the building is still standing." Marines took up positions on the ground around the vehicles as illumination flares were fired overhead from a nearby US base. Shots from the compound triggered a barrage of return fire from gunners mounted on the trucks' roofs and from other soldiers on foot. Huge explosions rocked the convoy and red tracer bullets flew through the air. One US rocket destroyed a wall of the compound, and Marines said they saw men pulling belongings out of the rubble. The exchange of fire lasted about one hour, with the attackers then falling silent under the heavy US onslaught. On Saturday morning, troops searched the sprawling mud compound but found little evidence of those involved in the battle beyond marks from mortar base plates. "We had been expecting an attack and were asking ourselves why it hadn't happened," said Lieutenant Dan Jernigan, who heads the 30-man route clearance platoon. "Women and children left the area just before dusk and we knew that we would soon come under fire, which is what happened. It is impossible to say if any Taliban were killed. "These roads need to be opened for the people of Afghanistan and we will press on to achieve that." The US's efforts to stabilise the Afghan government and defeat the Taliban rely on controlling Helmand, where much of the opium that funds the insurgency is grown and through which Taliban fighters travel to safe havens in Pakistan. Obama launched a major operation in the province at the start of the month, sending 4,000 Marines into areas where British troops from the international coalition had failed to quell the Taliban. British troops last month kicked off their own major operation further north in Helmand, suffering heavy casualties there and elsewhere in the province mostly from IEDs. Eight British soldiers were killed within 24 hours on Friday, taking the British military death toll in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan higher than that for the conflict in Iraq. The Afghan Islamist hardliners were ousted by the coalition and a local alliance in 2001 for refusing to hand over Al-Qaeda militants behind the September 11 attacks. No Marines were injured in Friday's fighting near Koshtay, though one man was concussed in Wednesday's IED blast and evacuated by helicopter. The battle started after two Marines using hand-held mine detectors moved a few hundred yards (metres) up the road ahead of the parked convoy. An IED, apparently set off by a trigger man activating a command wire, exploded near them. Other Marines charged into nearby woods and trees in search of the man, and the ambush began soon after they had returned to the convoy. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: Asia Pacific Unpopular Japan PM's job on line in Tokyo voteReuters - Sunday, July 12 Italian hostage in Philippines freed: officialsAFP - Sunday, July 12 After violence, western China looks for answersAP - Sunday, July 12 Pakistan plans trial of Mumbai attackers next week: govtAFP - Sunday, July 12 Record-breaking Aussies pummel England in AshesAFP - Sunday, July 12 Enlarge Photo Isolated US convoys in Afghanistan ambush targets Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed Pushy French are world's worst tourists: study Miniskirts, cleavage upset male SKoreans: survey Jackson 'best father' ever, daughter tells the world Jackson mother relieved of estate on funeral eve German mother gives birth to identical triplets View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! 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