Report: U.S. Sends Battle Tanks to Afghanistan

[Geee]

Fox News:

In a move signaling a major escalation in the offensive against the Taliban, the U.S. military reportedly is deploying heavily armored battle tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war.

The company of M1 Abrams tanks, each weighing in at 68 tons and propelled by jet engine, are equipped with 120mm guns that can destroy a house from more than a mile away, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

"The tanks bring awe, shock and firepower," an officer familiar with the tanks told the Post. "It's pretty significant."

The tanks will initially be used by Marines engaged in an intense firefight with Taliban cells in the country's southwest province of Helmand, the newspaper said, giving American ground forces the power to target insurgents with a longer range and more lethal punch than from any other U.S. military vehicle.