Marines at Patrol Base Gonzo in Musa Qala district, Helmand province, are on the frontline in one of the most sensitive areas in the nine-year war.

A Taliban hub and historic opium trading centre, Musa Qala is seen as key to controlling other crucial districts in Helmand, and has been one of the most high-profile flashpoints in the war in recent years.

A week after setting up base, Marines had edged forward a mile, but at the cost of daily gun battles and two of their men suffering serious wounds.

US forces insist they are taking painstaking steps forward since taking over earlier this year from the British, whose stretched troops struggled against the Taliban.

Their claims of progress reflect President Barack Obama's cautiously hopeful review this month of his surge strategy, one year after he ordered 30,000 new troops into Afghanistan to try and turn the war around.

"This is amazing (but) it's slow in the grand scheme of things. We have been here 10 years and we are just making this progress," said Major Justin Ansel, executive officer for the 1st Battalion 8th Marines deployed to Musa Qala.

"Is it as fast or as good as we would like? Maybe not. But it's Afghan-led, and 'Afghan good' -- not 'American good' but 'Afghan good'."

Locals also say that security has improved since the Marines, working with Afghan forces, moved in.

"Nowadays we see and hear few explosions and attacks in Musa Qala," said Mohammad Azam, 56, who runs a cloth shop.

"We feel the strong presence of the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police and Americans. We are happy that security has returned to the district and we can breathe more freely."

The name Musa Qala has been synonymous with criticism of the West's war strategy.

British troops previously stationed in the area were confined to their bases for years after deals struck with insurgents turned sour, Western officials and local people said.

"You couldn't venture out of the the district centre without taking the risk of being killed, injured or tortured by the Taliban," Mohammad Nawab Khan, a 29-year-old farmer, told AFP.

"British forces restricted themselves to their bases in the centre of the district and would not dare to fight Taliban outside."

After the deal broke down, an operation was launched in 2007 to win Musa Qala back from the Taliban. This ended when local Taliban leader Mullah Salaam switched sides and joined the government.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai flew in to inaugurate the new governor personally, saying Salaam's defection was a sign of hope in his bid to reconcile and reintegrate the Taliban and end the long war.

But development experts in Helmand say Salaam ruled with an iron fist, using a militia to menace villagers until his private army was killed by Taliban in 2009 and the governor retreated to his high-security compound.

Now a new governor has replaced him and a district council has been elected after years of failed efforts.

This is only the beginning of a counter-insurgency strategy that must be followed by development projects and the gradual wooing of villagers to support the government in Kabul.

And despite the good intentions of the new political players in Musa Qala, all the men come from outside the area and few villagers know and trust them, military and Western officials say.

The US Marines insist that patience will eventually bring change to Musa Qala.

"We've definitely had a lot of progress because we do so many patrols, we get out, we put our faces out there," Lieutenant Pete Carrothers said.

But political analyst Ahmadullah Ahmadi sounded a note of warning ahead of the conditional withdrawal of US troops, which Obama's war review said was on course to start in July 2011.

"We can be optimistic of the situation if it continues to be like this but there is always a chance for a Taliban comeback in the district if the number of American and Afghan security forces reduces there," he told AFP.

"The Taliban are waiting for a chance to strike back, and strike hard."

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