Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 US Marines, ferried in by CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters and C-130s, set up a Forward Operating Base known as Camp Rhino in the desert south of Kandahar on November 25. This was the coalition's first base, and enabled other operating bases to form. The first significant combat involving US ground forces occurred a day after Rhino was captured, when 15 Taliban armored vehicles approached the base and were attacked by helicopter gunships, destroying many of them. Meanwhile, airstrikes continued to pound Taliban positions inside the city, where Mullah Omar remained. Omar remained defiant although his movement controlled only four out of 30 Afghan provinces by the end of November. He called on his forces to fight to the death.