Snipers as a new tactic of the Taliban

Afghanistan offensive
Increasingly, the guerrilla-style insurgency fighting for supremacy in
the drug supply hotspot Marjah

For months, have you prepared them in secret, "Operation Together"
with which the act recently on the defensive more advisable NATO
troops since the weekend against insurgent Taliban. As the largest
military offensive since the start of NATO's engagement in 2001, the
under Afghan command and thousands of soldiers of the Western defense
alliance acted action taken.

New tactics of the Taliban

Hardly had she begun, made the first round of the success stories: the
fleeing Taliban were the militarily far superior NATO forces opposed
to "little resistance" only sporadically set booby traps were the
Allied advance on occasionally. Now the New York Times reports on a
new tactic of the Taliban fighters and NATO officials in Kabul in a
matter of concern. Increasingly, the advancing troops were attacked by
snipers.

The scene: the area around the village of Marja in the southern Afghan
province of Helmand, a hotspot of the drug trade, switch to the
militant fundamentalists of the Kabul central government largely
undisturbed and exercise.

U.S. soldier shot dead

"In the five days that continues the fight already, the Taliban have
turned a new page that has been in almost ten years of American
involvement in Afghanistan so far been barely, snipers, both working
alone and in guerrilla-style attacks from ambush "writes the New York
paper. Five U.S. Marines and two Afghan soldiers have been taken, an
American killed when his patrol was ambushed by snipers.

Previously presented the firearms attacks by the Taliban, in contrast
to some homemade booby traps, no major threat to the heavily armed
NATO troops dar. behind the new development U.S. observers suggest
more effective and disciplined training of the insurgents, possibly
under supervision of trained, battle-hardened shooters.

Shots from all directions

The New York Times quoted a commander of the Marines, whose shock
troops came under heavy shelling on Monday: "At first shots were fired
with Kalashnikovs at us. Whoever it was, he's well hidden. Not even
our marine binoculars have discovered something, "Sharpe go here
according to the New York Times, usually using the same tactics. Is
only with a heavy machine gun fire, the attention of the soldiers
aroused, then it follows from the other direction of the fire with
sniper rifles.

The relatively flat and sparsely vegetated area around the Marja do it
easily the Taliban to implement their new tactics into practice, the
U.S. military representative in the New York Times. Often, the ground
forces remain no other option than to request air support.