Winter no longer calm in Helmand

Reuters says there is heavy fighting in Helmand as the US Marines are trying to clean areas previously contested by the British and the Taleban. The British used to go out every now and then to "mow the grass", as they called it, and then fall back as they never really had enough troops to properly hold their ground. The idea now is to properly secure the population centres so the Taleban cannot terrorise the locals. Hence the fighting to flush the enemy out.

Winter used to be fairly calm in Afghanistan, outside the spring and summer "fighting season". Apparently that has now changed, partly because of the influx of more Western troops and partly because the Taleban have changed tactics: they try to avoid open confrontation and plant roadside bombs instead. That you can do in the winter, too. The New York Times has a story on this.