Op Khanjar photos

HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN - JUNE 30: Dust billows from behind a Marine military convoy as it drives to Camp Dwyer from Camp Leatherneck on a re-supply mission on June 30, 2009 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The Marines are part of a stepped up effort by American troops fighting Taliban fighters in Southern Afghanistan. Getty.

HELMAND PROVINCE- JULY 1: U.S. Marine Private Michael Spurling from Stewarts Town, Pennsylvania reads a letter from his mother as he sits on his cot at Camp Dwyer on July 1, 2009 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The Marines are part of a stepped up effort by American troops fighting Taliban fighters in Southern Afghanistan. Getty.








U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, along with approximately 650 Afghan soldiers and police officers from the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF), prepare to board CH-53D Sea Stallion and CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters at Forward Operating Base Dwyer, Afghanistan, July 2, 2009. The Marines and ANSF are partnered for a major operation in the Helmand Province to transition security responsibilities to the Afghan forces. The Marines and ANSF will move into towns and villages along the Helmand River Valley in an effort to secure the population from the threat of the Taliban and other insurgent intimidation and violence. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Philippe E. Chasse/Released)

MAIN POSHTEH, AFGHANISTAN - JULY 02: A U.S. Marine from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. takes up a fighting position after off loading from a helicopter during the start of Operation Khanjari on July 2, 2009 in Main Poshteh, Afghanistan. The Marines are part of an operation to take areas in the Southern Helmand Province that Taliban fighters are using as a resupply route and to help the local Afghan population prepare for the upcoming presidential elections. Getty.

MAIN POSHTEH, AFGHANISTAN - JULY 2: U.S. Marine Captain Eric Meador from Laurel, Mississippi of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. takes up a fighting position during the start of Operation Khanjari on July 2, 2009 in Main Poshteh, Afghanistan. The Marines are part of an operation to take areas in the Southern Helmand Province that Taliban fighters are using as a resupply route and to help the local Afghan population prepare for the upcoming presidential elections. Getty.

MAIN POSHTEH, AFGHANISTAN- JULY 2: U.S. Marines from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. look to return fire during the start of Operation Khanjari on July 2, 2009 in Main Poshteh, Afghanistan. The Marines are part of an operation to take areas in the Southern Helmand Province that Taliban fighters are using as a resupply route and to help the local Afghan population prepare for the upcoming presidential elections. Getty.

U.S. Marines from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, 1st Battalion 5th Marines temporarily occupy a house after arriving in an overnight air assault near the Taliban stronghold of Nawa in Afghanistan's Helmand province Thursday July 2, 2009. Thousands of U.S. Marines poured from helicopters and armored vehicles into Taliban-controlled villages in southern Afghanistan on Thursday in the first major operation under President Barack Obama's strategy to stabilize the country. AP.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ryan Pettit (left) and Cpl. Matthew Miller with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment fire their service rifles during an operation in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan on July 3, 2009. The Marines are part of the ground combat element of Regiment Combat Team 3, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. DoD photo by Sgt. Pete Thibodeau, U.S. Marine Corps. (Released)


See also Life with the Marines in Helmand (more photos) and Afghan flag raised above Khan Neshin for the first time (article, video).