ianstone
07-31-2010, 05:48 AM
British troops launch biggest offensive of summer in Afghanistan
Hundreds of British troops on Friday launched their biggest offensive of the summer to west a Taliban stronghold in Helmand from insurgent control.
By Ben Farmer in Nad-e-Ali
Published: 11:51AM BST 30 Jul 2010
Link to this video (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/7918228/Under-fire-in-Sangin-just-another-day-in-Afghanistan-for-British-troops.html)
Operation Tor Shezada, or Black Prince, began in the early hours of Friday with helicopters carrying soldiers deep into rebel-held territory in the southern tip of Nad-e-Ali district in Helmand.
Their target is the town of Saidabad, which commanders said was the last part of British-garrisoned Nad-e-Ali which remains beyond the Afghan (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/) government’s control.
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The operation is intended to build on Operation Moshtarak, which was launched in February and was the largest operation in the nine-year Afghanistan campaign. The push saw a combined force of 15,000 British, American and Afghan troops attempt to bring peace to the district.
However, Saidabad was never cleared and is both a symbolic and tactically significant location.
The town is the site of a critical canal crossing where insurgents can freely cross with weapons and motorbikes, allowing the Taliban to resupply Marjah to the south, where US marines have been locked in battle since Moshtarak began.
It also houses an insurgent “shadow government” and is defended by up to 180 fighters, hidden among the 6,000 residents’ scattered mud-walled compounds.
Major Andy Garner, the officer in charge of Corunna Company, 1st Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, said: “It is a small safe haven or staging post where they can move forward from and stage attacks. It is an area they can move freely in and out of.”
As the push began, the Daily Telegraph accompanied Corunna Company on foot across farmland towards the area in the dark.
“The plan is to steal the area rather than to fight for it,” Lt Col Frazer Lawrence, commander of forces in Nad-e-Ali, told this newspaper.
Habibullah, the district governor, issued radio appeals for villagers to stay inside as troops advanced.
Commanders believed the Taliban were taken by surprise and the advance faced no resistance as it leapfrogged form compound to compound.
However, as day came and the temperature climbed to a sweltering heat, teenage boys darted in and out of the tree line, watching the troops’ progress. They were believed to be Taliban scouts.
Bomb disposal experts painstakingly started to clear the main route south to the town. The two-mile road will later be reinforced by checkpoints aimed at permanently keeping it clear of home-made bombs.
British commanders have hailed Nad-e-Ali as a beacon of progress since Taliban fighters were cleared from the district in Moshtarak.
Commerce in the town of Nad-e-Ali, which gives its name to the district, sharply increased over the last 12 months and the busy bazaar now has 250 shops and solar powered street lights recently fitted by the British.
Soldiers believe security has improved so much that soon they will be able to stop wearing helmets on patrols through the town.
Afghans visiting bazaars in Nad-e-Ali before the offensive said security had improved in recent months, but added that they still felt caught between rebel and Nato-led forces.
Mullah Reedi Gul, a stallholder, said the Taliban held sway less than two miles into the countryside.
“Inside the bazaar it’s very good and business is very good, but outside it is still insecure,” he said.
“When the Taliban come into our villages, they use our compounds for ambushes and then the Nato soldiers come and blame us.”
Hundreds of British troops on Friday launched their biggest offensive of the summer to west a Taliban stronghold in Helmand from insurgent control.
By Ben Farmer in Nad-e-Ali
Published: 11:51AM BST 30 Jul 2010
Link to this video (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/7918228/Under-fire-in-Sangin-just-another-day-in-Afghanistan-for-British-troops.html)
Operation Tor Shezada, or Black Prince, began in the early hours of Friday with helicopters carrying soldiers deep into rebel-held territory in the southern tip of Nad-e-Ali district in Helmand.
Their target is the town of Saidabad, which commanders said was the last part of British-garrisoned Nad-e-Ali which remains beyond the Afghan (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/) government’s control.
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British soldier killed in helicopter crash in Afghanistan (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/5765569/British-soldier-killed-in-helicopter-crash-in-Afghanistan.html)
The operation is intended to build on Operation Moshtarak, which was launched in February and was the largest operation in the nine-year Afghanistan campaign. The push saw a combined force of 15,000 British, American and Afghan troops attempt to bring peace to the district.
However, Saidabad was never cleared and is both a symbolic and tactically significant location.
The town is the site of a critical canal crossing where insurgents can freely cross with weapons and motorbikes, allowing the Taliban to resupply Marjah to the south, where US marines have been locked in battle since Moshtarak began.
It also houses an insurgent “shadow government” and is defended by up to 180 fighters, hidden among the 6,000 residents’ scattered mud-walled compounds.
Major Andy Garner, the officer in charge of Corunna Company, 1st Battalion, the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, said: “It is a small safe haven or staging post where they can move forward from and stage attacks. It is an area they can move freely in and out of.”
As the push began, the Daily Telegraph accompanied Corunna Company on foot across farmland towards the area in the dark.
“The plan is to steal the area rather than to fight for it,” Lt Col Frazer Lawrence, commander of forces in Nad-e-Ali, told this newspaper.
Habibullah, the district governor, issued radio appeals for villagers to stay inside as troops advanced.
Commanders believed the Taliban were taken by surprise and the advance faced no resistance as it leapfrogged form compound to compound.
However, as day came and the temperature climbed to a sweltering heat, teenage boys darted in and out of the tree line, watching the troops’ progress. They were believed to be Taliban scouts.
Bomb disposal experts painstakingly started to clear the main route south to the town. The two-mile road will later be reinforced by checkpoints aimed at permanently keeping it clear of home-made bombs.
British commanders have hailed Nad-e-Ali as a beacon of progress since Taliban fighters were cleared from the district in Moshtarak.
Commerce in the town of Nad-e-Ali, which gives its name to the district, sharply increased over the last 12 months and the busy bazaar now has 250 shops and solar powered street lights recently fitted by the British.
Soldiers believe security has improved so much that soon they will be able to stop wearing helmets on patrols through the town.
Afghans visiting bazaars in Nad-e-Ali before the offensive said security had improved in recent months, but added that they still felt caught between rebel and Nato-led forces.
Mullah Reedi Gul, a stallholder, said the Taliban held sway less than two miles into the countryside.
“Inside the bazaar it’s very good and business is very good, but outside it is still insecure,” he said.
“When the Taliban come into our villages, they use our compounds for ambushes and then the Nato soldiers come and blame us.”