Author: Christopher Torchia
-
Battalion among hardest hit in Afghan war
FORWARD OPERATING BASE FRONTENAC, Afghanistan — It was Aug. 10, 2009 in the Arghandab River Valley, a hot and dusty day full of unknowns. An American battalion was swapping in with a Canadian garrison. As the Stryker troop carrier rumbled toward the riverside orchards, a Canadian soldier warned 1st Lt. Vic Cortese, 24, of…
-
U.S. troops close Taliban escape route before attack
NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan — U.S. and Afghan soldiers linked up with Marines on the outskirts of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah on Thursday, sealing off escape routes and setting the stage for what is being described as the biggest offensive of the nine-year war. Taliban defenders repeatedly fired rockets and mortars at units poised…
-
Marines test Taliban defenses before Afghan attack
NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan — U.S. Marines fired smoke rounds Wednesday and armored vehicles maneuvered close to Taliban positions to test insurgent defenses ahead of an anticipated attack on the biggest militant-controlled town in southern Afghanistan. A NATO spokesman in Brussels called on Taliban militants holding Marjah to surrender. But a Taliban spokesman boasted that…
-
U.K. talks focus on Taliban reconciliation plan
LONDON — Afghanistan’s president said Monday that the West, once resistant to reconciliation with the Taliban, now backs his plan to persuade some militants to lay down their weapons. The assertion came ahead of an international conference on Afghanistan that Britain’s leader said would pledge funding for the Afghan peace plan, despite concerns about…