U.S. troops in Afghanistan arouse curiosity

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 neighbors, 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.

Sun said he was not surprised that the Taliban did not try to stop the advance into the valley, but he doubted the insurgents who held it firmly until Thursday morning had simply vanished.

"I expect we are going to see enemy pretty soon," he said. "You come in pretty heavy, with helicopters and stuff, they do not want to test us. But I expect once we settle down they will try something.

"It's always like that. The calm before the storm. Then we take care of the storm."

Mohammad Akbar, a portly, bearded elder stood amid a cluster of about a dozen men and boys who met the Marine captain by the main road. He patted his small grandson on the head as he spoke to Reuters.

"We will see. They've only just arrived."

The patrol turned back toward the mud brick compound that the Marines have occupied after making an agreement with the owner.

As they walked back, one man came out of his compound to complain. A Marine in the patrol had poked his head over his wall.

"We told him 'The Marines are new here. We still have things to learn'. He understood," said Captain Sun.

The Marines returned to their compound just after sunset. The villagers stared at them in silence as the darkness fell.

(Editing by Richard Balmforth)