Military offensive in Marjah, Afghanistan

About 15,000 NATO and Afghan troops are taking part in the offensive around Marjah, a town of about 80,000 people that was the largest population center in southern Helmand province under Taliban control. NATO hopes to rush in aid and public services as soon as the town is secured to try to win the loyalty of the population. READ THE AP STORIES: Afghan army raises flag on embattled Taliban town, and Taliban town residents skeptical of NATO promises.

Photographed through the plexiglass window of a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus medevac helicopter rescuing two Marine casualties, U.S. Marine armored vehicles and troopers are pictured in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Monday Feb. 15, 2010. Thousands of US and Afghan troops are attempting to gain control over the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, encountering sniper fire, home-made bombs, booby traps, and minefields. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

A U.S. marine with NATO forces instructs Afghan men to raise their clothes to reveal that they are not hiding weapons in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

U.S. Marines with NATO forces patrol in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A U.S. Marine with NATO forces stands guard as a boy walks in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

An Afghan man raises his hands as requested by U.S. Marines, not seen, as armored vehicles are seen in the background in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

An armored vehicle is seen through rubble of shops in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

An unarmed U.S. Marine walks past a damaged market in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

U.S. Marines with NATO forces sleep outside a makeshift base in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Golab Mangal governor of Helmand province, extreme right, visits Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

An Afghan man, left, stands as smoke from an explosion rises in Marjah, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A U.S. Marine dog handler sits with his bomb-sniffing working dog aboard a helicopter during a medevac mission of the U.S. Army's Task Force Pegasus, on the southern end of Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010. The lifesaving dog, which had stopped functioning well due to likely PTSD, according to his handler, was evacuated along with a wounded Afghan civilian by TF Pegasus. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

U.S. Marines carry a wounded Afghan man onto a helicopter during a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus 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)

Photographed through the plexiglass window of a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus medevac helicopter rescuing two U.S. Marine casualties, Marines and Navy Corpsmen shield their patients from the dust wash caused by the landing helicopter, in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Monday Feb. 15, 2010. Thousands of US and Afghan troops are attempting to gain control over the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, encountering sniper fire, home-made bombs, booby traps, and minefields. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

An Afghan man with a gunshot wound is carried to a waiting helicopter to be evacuated by a U.S. Army Task Force Pegasus helicopter crew, in Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Monday Feb. 15, 2010. At left is U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo. Pegasus aeromedical crews have faced rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire over the past days while supporting U.S. and Afghan troops taking part in an ongoing assault in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

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, Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010. Two wounded Taliban fighters were transported to a nearby field hospital. Pegasus aeromedical crews have been attacked regularly 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)

During a sporadic firefight, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. and flight medic Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., top right, with Task Force Pegasus, coordinate a medical evacuation mission as Marine infantrymen carry onto a helicopter the second of two wounded Taliban fighters captured minutes earlier, according to witnesses, in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010. The two were transported to a nearby U.S. Navy field hospital. Pegasus aeromedical crews have been attacked regularly 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)

An Afghan man with a gunshot wound and in stable condition is evacuated in a helicopter by U.S. Army flight medic Staff Sgt. Robert B. Cowdrey, of La Junta, Colo., left, withTask Force Pegasus, over Marjah, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, Monday Feb. 15, 2010. At right is an unnamed U.S. Marine MP who joined the flight for added security. Pegasus aeromedical crews have faced rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire over the past days while supporting U.S. and Afghan troops taking part in an ongoing assault in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher Whitman, from Clearwater Fla., and from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment dries his socks on the back of his pack while on patrol in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Christopher Whitman, from Clearwater, Fla., and from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment kicks in a door to search a compound while on a patrol in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment warm themselves by a fire in a compound in the early morning in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Afghan national Army soldiers warm themselves next to a fire in the early morning in the town of Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province on Monday Feb. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

A U.S. Marine from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment walks past a Taliban bunker fighting position Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 in a canal outside a compound which they had taken the night before after receiving small arms fire for several hours in Marjah in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)