In December, hundreds of U.S. Marines occupied Kandahar airport, carefully picking through unexploded weaponry and debris left by the Taliban in their hurried retreat. It was the biggest Marine deployment since the U.S. military established Camp Rhino, a firebase 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.
Marine vehicles took up posts on the perimeter of the airport, six miles southeast of Kandahar, the Taliban's birthplace and former stronghold. Soldiers cleared debris from the terminal building and checked for mines and booby traps.
Besides preparing runways for humanitarian flights and building facilities to hold hundreds of detainees, for several weeks Marines used the airport as a staging base in the hunt for Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
By mid January 2002, troops from the 101st Airborne Division took control of Kandahar airport, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan from the Marine Corps, a transfer signaling the intention of American forces to remain in the country indefinitely. Many of the Marines redeployed to their ships in the Arabian Sea, where they will be available for future missions. About 2,000 Marines were at Kandahar before they started returning to their ships. |
