disorganized. they also say the militants are now hold up on compounds with women and children and according to some reports, using them as human shields. so afghan coalition troops beginning a new stage of the battle by reaching out to local villagers. just trying to get back and forth hearts of the locals and let them know we are here to help them. the government says the troops are even holderring their fire or advancing nor willmore slowly so they don t kill civilians. 15 have died since fry friday. conor paul is imbedded. he is reporting from outside marjah in afghanistan. conor. shepard, we continue to see sporadic and at times very heavy fighting throughout the city of marjah as marine and afghan forces continue to push deeper and deeper into this taliban held city. now, yesterday the marine corps was describing the taliban tactics as disorganized. today we are beginning to see the taliban regroup. today there are reports that the
what is the latest on the fight for marjah? reporter: well, harris, the commander beeves on the ground are emphasizing tactical patience, not wants to rush civilian casualties or obviously coalition casualties. a significant moment today was when an afghan soldier climbed to the top of a building in the town square and raised an afghan flag, essentially sending the message to the people there that this is not about the coalition taking over your town, this is about afghan troops liberating your town for you, and this is something we ve heard from the very beginning of this operation, that this was an afghan offensive, and that afghans were playing a key role in liberating this critical taliban strong hold, harris. harris: what is the nature of the enemy s resistance today, and what about some estimates of the numbers we re hearing of the enemy killed? reporter: well, the governor when in helmand province estimates some 40 enemies have been killed. as you ve heard, the taliban have
shielding with women and children, or dropping their weapons, realizing the rules of engagement don t allow the marines to shoot at them if they re unarmed, and so they re trying to be tricky because they know the coalition has brought overwhelming force and will ultimately overtake the town, so they re trying to trick, if you will, but they seem to realize that they are well outnumbered, and certainly a lot more firepower on the coalition side. harris: all right, mike emanuel, live with that word from the pentagon, official word of what s going on in marjah. now let s bring in someone who can talk about the strategy, the logistics of getting the job done with the reported human shield necessary play. let s bring in rue tired army general marks, thank you for joining us, sir. absolutely, thank you. harris: my first question for you, this is not the first time that we ve faced this. i think it harkens back to somalia. we had to have learned some lessons from that, what did
quietly. dan spring ser live in vancouver. dan? reporter: that s right, jon. once again the ioc which governs the game says the female ski jumpers were not quite ready for prime time but this time they sued and won a partial victory when a british columbia judge said they were indeed the victims of discrimination but could not force the ioc to let them in. currently there are 160 female jumpers from around the world, including the world champ, lindsey vance from the u.s. they vow to keep fighting. onjon that s your news whip. thanks. harris: coalition troops in afghanistan, fighting for control of marjah amid news the taliban is using civilians as human shields. in afghan, brigade commander telling the associated press taliban fighters are firing at troops from inside or next to compounds where women and children are clearly visible. our mike emanuel is live at the pentagon.
power that the military can bring to bear 24/7. now, look, the bad news is civilians, these families, these women and children, are being used as shields. the good news is this completely erodes support for the taliban in this area. harris: general, before i let you go, i do want to understand, if you could explain it to me, how is it we can communicate with our troops on the ground to the people so they re not used as targets so often? very often they don t have a vote, they re being oppressed into service, if you will, they are told you will be present and we are going to make you part of this fight, so they risk resisting that at what i would call the guarantee of death or some other form of punishment. but the fact that the u.s. forces and the afghan forces, more importantly, are in marjah right now, have raised the afghan national flag, that sends an incredibly powerful message. harris: all right, that s at least a positive out of all of this.