--- title: Tragedy in Marjah, Witness to a Civilian Casualty | TIME description: Photographer Adam Ferguson, on patrol with Marines in northern Marjah, witnessed the unintentional killing of a girl in a U.S.-fired mortar strike canonical: https://time.com/video/GHeyGIo2/ og:title: Tragedy in Marjah, Witness to a Civilian Casualty og:description: Photographer Adam Ferguson, on patrol with Marines in northern Marjah, witnessed the unintentional killing of a girl in a U.S.-fired mortar strike og:url: https://time.com/video/GHeyGIo2/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/GHeyGIo2/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tragedy in Marjah, Witness to a Civilian Casualty twitter:description: Photographer Adam Ferguson, on patrol with Marines in northern Marjah, witnessed the unintentional killing of a girl in a U.S.-fired mortar strike twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/GHeyGIo2/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Tragedy in Marjah, Witness to a Civilian Casualty > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Tragedy in Marjah, Witness to a Civilian Casualty [Watch (HLS stream): Tragedy in Marjah, Witness to a Civilian Casualty](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/GHeyGIo2.m3u8) (3:37)  _Published 2010-08-19. Photographer Adam Ferguson, on patrol with Marines in northern Marjah, witnessed the unintentional killing of a girl in a U.S.-fired mortar strike_ --- Jul 27, 2023 2:24 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [100 Photographs: Tragedy in Iraq](/video/EnQVPE0R/) ### 100 Photographs: Tragedy in Iraq [The Witness - Trailer](/video/xMlKnvaz/) ### The Witness - Trailer [A Tough Fight with the Taliban in Marjah](/video/z2B1utRM/) ### A Tough Fight with the Taliban in Marjah --- ## Transcript -[ unk ]. >> I know. >> To be on this group [ unk ]-- >> On July 28, in Northern Marja district, I was on patrol with Lima Company from the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, when a burst of crackling gunfire interrupted the real silence. >> It was southeast from our position, I wish I could tell you the distance, man. >> As the Marines dive behind mud walls to establish fighting positions, they spotted a man taking shots at them from a few yards away. >> It's on the southeast Compound. Right here, drive if you want to come around the corner. Yeah, and [ unk ]-- >> As the Marines fired back, the gunman docked behind the haystack near village compound. >> They might be moved eight, they might be moving up this canal. They're pulling up-- >> Marines radioed the coordinates of the gunman's location, to a nearby combat operations post, calling for a mortar strike. >> Drop [ unk ]. >> Hey, you got a [ unk ]-- >> Jesus Christ. >> you gotta [ unk ]-- >> After a wait that seemed too long for these Marines on the ground-- >> Hey, what do you say, Alpha, Juliet what? [ unk ]-- >> Mortars launch from the sky. The engagement was over quickly. No one knew whether any insurgents had been killed. It was the usual game of cat and mouse. >> You know birds left that [ unk ] the first time. >> Hey, we need to make adjustments when we deal with that bad boy. >> An hour and a half later, a man approached the marines. He said his 14- year old niece had been killed by shrapnel. The marines were mortified. Fearing an ambush, Lima Company chose not to investigate. But not long after, the man returned with a tractor, carrying the father, family and body of the girl. Lieutenant Kevin Gargin spoke to the girl's father through a translator. -[ Foreign Language ] -[ Foreign Language ] >> The father told the lieutenant his daughter's name. It was Gulmacai. -[ Foreign Language ] >> Lieutenant Gargin continued his conversation with the girl's family in almost a whisper. -[ Foreign Language ] >> I feel like a-- like a bad man that this is happening. What is-- what is the father's name? -[ Foreign Language ] Muhammad Karim. >> Just tell him that-- can I just say sorry though, this is the worst possible thing that could happen. -[ Foreign Language ] >> As daylight faded, the Marines accompanied the dead girl and her family home. Lieutenant Gargin sat with the family members and offered condolences. 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