U.S. troops in Afghanistan arouse curiosity, unease

By Peter Graff

SORKHDOZ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - The old men crouched in clusters on the road, worrying their prayer beads. The children stared silently, one nibbling a bit of cucumber.

The villagers of Sorkhdoz were out on the street on Thursday night to get a look at their new neighbours, a company of about 200 U.S. Marines, who arrived by helicopter at dawn.

Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, 10th Marines were among thousands who surged forward into southern Afghanistan's lower Helmand River valley early on Thursday in what their commanders hope will be a decisive turning point in the eight-year old war.

The valley, a Taliban stronghold and one of the world's largest opium growing regions, had resisted advances by NATO troops for years.

The assault, the largest by foreign ground forces in Afghanistan since Soviet forces withdrew in 1989, was remarkably peaceful, with Marines receiving only sporadic resistance.

Captain Junwei Sun, commander of Foxtrot company, walked the streets of the village at sunset, introducing himself and his Afghan government ally, Border Police Lieutenant Colonel Gul Agha Almiri.

Villagers listened politely while Almiri told them he was there to help bring peace.

They walked on, the Americans growing jittery when a man on a motorbike drove past. Taliban fighters often dispatch suicide bombers on motorbikes.