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View Full Version : U.K. Ends PANTHER"S CLAW in Helmand inflict heavy damage to Taliban



bobdina
08-05-2009, 12:15 PM
A final armoured thrust across enemy territory has marked the end of Operation PANTHER'S CLAW; a five-week campaign to clear one of the few remaining Taliban strongholds in Helmand province.

The operation, known as PANCHAI PALANG in Pashtu, has cleared and secured the area between Lashkar Gah and Gereshk, a region which is home to up to 80,000 Helmandis.

In a fiercely fought battle with the insurgents, British forces inflicted heavy losses on enemy forces, severely damaging their command and control structures and visibly weakening their resistance.

As the fighting subsided and insurgents fled from their hidden positions, local people started to flock back to the previously deserted towns and villages.

The final push in the five-week-long operation began in the early hours of 20 July 2009 when a mechanised Warrior company from 2nd Battalion The Royal Welsh (2 Royal Welsh) pushed south west from Spin Masjed in an armoured sweep towards the east bank of the Luy Mandah wadi.

Simultaneously, four Chinooks carrying 160 men from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS), swooped into the Green Zone to secure nearby key ground in the west of Babiji.

One hundred and forty men from 2 Royal Welsh in a convoy of Warriors, supported by tanks from a Danish battalion, pushed through the lush green countryside in the heart of the Green Zone, while their Scottish colleagues used the element of surprise to storm across land just a short distance away.

The Royal Welsh cut through the countryside to avoid potentially lethal tracks and roadways strewn with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), linking up with 3 SCOTS who had pushed along the Babiji Road.

The battle groups encountered relatively little resistance, an indication that Taliban fighters have fled the area as their hierarchy has fallen apart following the sustained attack over the past five weeks.

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said:

"We have encountered very few insurgents on the last leg of Operation PANCHAI PALANG. This is a very positive sign. Rather than being attacked at every turn, as we saw when The Light Dragoons first entered Spin Masjed, the battle groups received a welcome from the locals, many of whom openly expressed how pleased they are to see the demise of Taliban influence in the area."

Operation PANTHER'S CLAW began on 19 June 2009 when 350 soldiers from 3 SCOTS conducted a high risk air assault securing a canal crossing and a key Taliban drugs bazaar on the Nahr-e-Burgha. This was followed by a push up the Shamalan canal by the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, who secured 14 crossings, either establishing checkpoints or blocking them to create a barrier to movement and cutting off the insurgents' supply route.

Nearer Gereshk, in a co-ordinated move, the Danish Battle Group left Forward Operating Base Price in armoured vehicles with the mission of securing two other crossing points along the Nahr-e-Burgha canal to allow The Light Dragoons Battle Group to move deep into the enemy territory of Spin Masjed.

Initially, The Light Dragoons encountered fierce fighting through compounds in sweltering heat which at times baked the earth to a temperature which prevented them from lying prone on the ground in the face of enemy fire.
A Warrior Armoured Personnel Vehicle patrols through Babaji


Slowly and decisively, the Battle Group continued to make progress across the area, securing compounds one by one, often battling through prolonged enemy fire. As they broke through the crust of enemy defences they found 55 dug-in IEDs, had 53 small arms and rocket-propelled grenade engagements and also faced a series of complex ambushes. The Battle Group sustained their own losses but the losses of the insurgents were much, much greater.

Five days into the fight enemy resistance began to weaken as their command and control was decimated by the resilience of British and Afghan forces. The Afghan National Army, mentored by 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment, played a key part in the operation, searching compounds and assisting the Afghan National Police with manning the recently captured crossing points.

As The Light Dragoons moved across the 'Panther's Claw Triangle', the insurgents were pushed further and further towards the Shamalan canal. On 10 July 2009, 3 SCOTS inserted 160 men on four Chinooks into the Babiji region, with the intention that they would clear another patch of land and expand their area of control to meet with The Light Dragoons Battle Group, who were still working their way down from Spin Masjed.

Within hours of landing in enemy territory, the Scottish regiment found a large narcotics lab probably used to fund the insurgents' activities. A massive quantity of precursor chemicals and 5kg of a morphine-derivative substance that was one step away from becoming heroin were destroyed in situ by the Afghan Counter Narcotics Police.

After 3 SCOTS had successfully linked up with The Light Dragoons, they combined and doubled their effort to drive deeper into the area. They began to see a subtle change in atmospherics with the local population welcoming the soldiers and willingly pointing out cleared routes and IEDs that they knew to be dug into the ground.
A Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter

On 20 July, the final air assault began the last phase of the operation, combined with an armoured thrust to clear any remaining Taliban fighters still loitering in the area in small numbers.

Three thousand soldiers were involved in Operation PANTHER'S CLAW, with Afghan, Danish, Estonian and US contingents playing a crucial role. Together they have successfully cleared an area the size of the Isle of Wight; a region which had previously been under complete Taliban influence from where they had launched repeated attacks with relative impunity.

Brigadier Tim Radford, Commander Task Force Helmand, said:

"Our intention with this operation was, in the short term, to clear the area in advance of the presidential and provincial elections so that we could ensure that the Afghan people were free to exercise their democratic rights. In the longer term, it was to remove the insurgents and hold the region, alongside Afghan forces, to allow reconstruction and development to take place.

"What we have achieved here is significant and I am absolutely certain that the operation has been a success. But I want to be clear about what that success means. It means that we have hit hard at the heart of the insurgency and we have weakened their structures and command.

"But I am aware that the effort in Helmand still has a long way to go. We have inflicted heavy losses on the insurgents, both physically and psychologically, and we have seen a number of them give up and flee the area as a result. But there will be some that simply melt back into the local population and so, for us, the threat continues to bubble beneath the surface.

"Over time, we must build on what has already been achieved to eliminate the threat completely and that will take time.

"Providing the lasting security for reconstruction and development to take place in this "region is now key to a future free from the insurgents' influence. We are beginning to see local people return and they are pleased that the insurgents have been driven out. I am immensely proud of what my soldiers have achieved and I remain cautiously optimistic about the future.

"Tragically, during PANTHER'S CLAW nine brave young men paid the ultimate sacrifice. We are a close knit Task Force and we all feel those losses very deeply but we remain resolute and determined to continue the fight in their name.

"This operation has been the focus of an enormous amount of media attention for various reasons. But sometimes obscured by the wider political debates are a group of men and women doing a truly extraordinary job. Out on the ground I have seen for myself the selfless bravery and commitment that they are displaying each and every day. It is something that the British public should be justifiably proud of.


http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/MilitaryOperations/ArmouredThrustClearsFinalTalibanFrompanthersClaw.h tm

Toki
08-05-2009, 05:13 PM
Good job UK brothers.