U.S., Afghan Forces Storm Taliban Stronghold

Feb. 24: U.S. Marine 1st SGT Ambroga Carson from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment patrols in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)

Feb. 24: U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment rest in a compound during a patrol in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP )

Feb. 24: During a medevac mission, U.S. Army flight medic Sgt. Bryan Eickelberg, of Arden Hills, Minn., center, and Crew Chief Sgt. Robert Wengeler, of Spokane Wash., left, both of Task Force Pegasus, provide emergency medical care to an unidentified injured Afghan National Army soldier, while airborne over Helmand province, Afghanistan. (AP)

Feb. 23: During a medevac mission in Marjah, U.S. Army flight medic Sgt. Bryan Eickelberg, of Arden Hills, Minn., second from left, with Task Force Pegasus, gives directions as he prepares to use a backboard to extricate a wounded Marine from inside an armored vehicle disabled minutes earlier by a planted improvised explosive device. (AP)

Feb. 23: Afghan police officers unload food items to be distributed to the villagers, from a U.S. military vehicle in Marjah, Afghanistan. (AP)

Feb. 23: U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment rest after a three day operation in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)

Feb. 22: U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher Whitman, from Clearwater, Fla., and the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment holds his radio into the air as he tries to communicate with the main base in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)

Feb. 23: U.S. Army flight medic Sgt. Bryan Eickelberg, of Arden Hills, Minn., left, with Task Force Pegasus, walks with an Afghan man who carries his son wounded by an improvised explosive device, according to troops on the ground, during a medevac mission in Marjah, Helmand province. (AP)

Feb. 21: A U.S. Marine takes runs through a field after igniting a smoke grenade to mark a landing zone for a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus helicopter during a medevac mission, in Marjah, Helmand province. Pegasus crews have come under fire nearly every mission in Marjah while evacuating the wounded, as U.S. and Afghan troops take part in an assault on the Taliban stronghold. (AP )

Feb. 21: A U.S. Marine from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment rests against a compound wall as they push on foot to the south of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. Source: AP Photo

Feb. 17: During a sporadic fire fight, a U.S. Marine and Afghan soldier help cover for a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus helicopter performing a medevac mission, evacuating two wounded Taliban fighters captured minutes earlier, according to witnesses, in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Source: AP Photo

 Feb. 17: U.S. Marines carry a wounded Afghan National Army soldier to a waiting U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus medevac helicopter, in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Source: AP photo (AP2010)

Feb. 17: Afghan National Army soldiers patrol with U.S. Marines in Marjah, Afghanistan. Source: AP Photo

Feb. 17: U.S. Marines with NATO forces stand guard on a temporary military bridge in Marjah, Afghanistan. Source: AP Photo

Feb. 17: Afghan National Army soldiers carry out an exercise near a military base in Gereshk city of Helmand province Afghanistan. Source: AP Photo

Feb. 17: An Afghan National Army soldier is alert during an exercise near a military base in Gereshk city of Helmand province. Source: AP Photo

Feb. 17: U.S. soldiers suspect row of marker sticks were placed along a path by Taliban fighters as a way to warn fellow fighters and possible villagers of the whereabouts of improvised explosive devices, in the Badula Qulp area, west of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. (AP)

Feb. 17: A U.S. soldier inspects a hole in the ground which troops suspect was dug by Taliban fighters to plant an improvised explosive device in the Badula Qulp area, West of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. (AP)

Feb. 17: During a sporadic firefight, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., far left, with Task Force Pegasus, coordinate a medical evacuation mission as Marine infantrymen carry a combative and wounded Taliban fighter captured minutes earlier, according to witnesses, in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. (AP)

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., with Task Force Pegasus, looks for his point of contact after landing in his helicopter during a medevac mission on the southern end of Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010. Pegasus aeromedical crews have faced rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire over the past days while evacuating the wounded as U.S. and Afghan troops take part in an assault in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) (AP)

Feb. 15: U.S. Marines from Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, fire their weapons in the town of Marjah in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province. U.S. Marines are making steady progress in one of the biggest NATO offensives in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. (Reuters)

Feb. 15: U.S. Marines from Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, walk in the town of Marjah in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province. The area is infested with roadside bombs, an obstacle which is bogging the company down, a spokesman said on Monday. (Reuters)

Feb. 14: U.S. Army Crew Chief Spc. Emil Rivera, of Tuscon, Ariz., with Task Force Pegasus, keeps watch at the door of his Black Hawk helicopter during a medevac mission over Marjah, Helmand province. Pegasus crews have come under fire daily while on missions supporting U.S. and Afghan troops taking part in an ongoing assault in the Taliban-held town of Marjah. (AP)

Feb. 15: A U.S. soldier of the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, wears a skull mask at an outpost in the Badula Qulp area, west of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. (AP)

Feb. 14: A U.S. Marine from Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines runs during a heavy gun battle in the town of Marjah, Afghanistan.

<b> Feb. 13: </b>U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment walk past a wall they blew open as they enter Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)

<b>Feb. 13: </b>U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment walk in a column as they enter Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP )

<b>Feb. 13: </b>Smoke rises from a hellfire missile strike as U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment make their way to enter Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)

<b>Feb. 13:</b> U.S. Marines line up to board Sea Stallion helicopters en route to an air assault against the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, at a Forward Operating Base, south of Marjah, in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, in the early hours. (AP)

<b>Feb. 13: </b>U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment walk in a column as they enter Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)

<b>Feb. 13: </b>An Afghan family takes their belongings and leaves their home as U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment enter Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)

<b>Feb. 13: </b>U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment and Afghan translators warm themselves before leaving their base camp to start an operation in Marjah. (AP)

<b>Feb. 13: </b>U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment and Afghan translators warm themselves before leaving their base camp to start an operation in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP)