Marines move in around Kandahar

SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN -- U.S. Marines are moving into position around the Taliban's last stronghold, Kandahar, ready to cut off escape routes and battle enemy troops who might try to flee the city, U.S. officers said Wednesday.

The new tactics, cutting off roads and communications to Kandahar, marked a significant shift in the Marines' role after days of building up a forward base in the desert outside the city, said Maj. James Parrington, executive officer of the Marine Expeditionary Unit 15th's Battalion Landing Team 1.

"The opposition groups are closing in on Kandahar," he said. "We are supporting that as they close in by conducting our offensive operations up there."

The Marines will make sure the Taliban don't escape or bring in reinforcements, Parrington, 37, of Minneapolis, told journalists at the base, called Marine Forward Operating Base Rhino.

Reconnaissance units were identifying key pieces of terrain north of Kandahar. They "are getting themselves in position to cut lines of communication," he said. Both the Marines and their Pashtun allies were getting into "position to defeat Taliban forces outside of Kandahar," he said.

Officials in Washington have said the Marines were not expected to take part in street fighting to drive the Taliban from Kandahar.

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