Marines take charge of Kandahar airport

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of U.S. Marines occupied the Kandahar airport Friday, carefully picking through unexploded weaponry and debris left by the Taliban as the U.S. military relocated its main base in southern Afghanistan.

It was the biggest Marine deployment since the U.S. military established a base in southern Afghanistan in late November. Some landed at the airport in helicopters in the early morning darkness.

Others arrived in a convoy of Humvees, pickup trucks and armored personnel carriers, and Afghans greeted the Marines as they passed by, waving AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

"They are happy to see us, but be aware there are still a lot of people in there who don't like us," Gen. James Mattis warned the soldiers before they left Camp Rhino, their base in the Afghan desert.

The Marines said they fired no shots during the nighttime mission to assume control of the international airport but later reported they saw what might have been muzzle flashes from small arms.

Flights of supplies and troops were suspended in the afternoon after military intelligence spotted a threat from a possible antiaircraft weapon near the airport, but officers said concern was diminishing.

"Until they eradicate that threat, or at least identify that threat, they're not going to bring any other aircraft in," said Lt. James Jarvis, a Marine spokesman.

The main Marine force is expected to relocate to the airport, leaving what essentially will be a rear guard at Camp Rhino, 70 miles southwest of Kandahar.

On Friday, Marine vehicles took up posts on the perimeter of the airport. Soldiers cleared debris from the terminal building and checked for mines and booby traps.

"There's a lot of unexploded ordnance," said Capt. David Romley, a Marine spokesman. "We are currently sweeping the airport to determine where the minefields are."

By nightfall, the Marines had swept about half the airport buildings, Jarvis said. During the sweep, Marines found six booby trap devices in one outfield building but none in the main terminal.

"We are not surprised by this given what has happened in other parts of Afghanistan," said Staff Sgt. Kristian Lippert, an explosives expert.

Jarvis said the Marines had determined the Kandahar runway was capable of handling planes despite bomb craters. The Marines did not say what the airport would be used for, but it could serve as a staging ground for distribution of relief supplies.

Kandahar International Airport, 10 miles east of the city, was the scene of fierce fighting until the Taliban abandoned the city a week ago, with pro-Taliban Arab defenders engaging in close combat with tribal warriors supported by U.S. airstrikes.

"There are pockets of resistance," Romley said. "We are maintaining our vigilance."

On an airport lawn, Marines displayed their discoveries: Russian rocket-propelled grenades, boxes of ammunition, Chinese mortars, an Italian antitank mine, an old rifle with a wooden stock, projectile fuses and a pipe used to smoke hashish.

Most of the offices were ransacked, and some are filled with piles of documents and rotting bread and fruit, possibly the supplies of the Arab fighters who held out for so long.

There were stacks of pink boarding cards for Ariana, Afghanistan's airline, along with a 1992 Paris Match magazine and a 1997 list of rules of recruitment for the Taliban. "Each home has to supply one young man," the regulations read.

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