Posted on 06/19/2006 11:28:59 AM PDT by Fletch357
Paras strike deep into the Taliban heartland By Thomas Harding in Kabul (Filed: 19/06/2006)
British forces have scored dramatic successes against the Taliban during a lightning push deep into the lawless regions of southern Afghanistan, senior commanders revealed yesterday.
The scale and effect of the operation had not previously emerged but the British force in southern Afghanistan has advanced 75 miles into the insurgents' stronghold leaving dozens of Taliban dead.
Members of 3 Bn the Parachute Regiment prepare a vehicle patrol in Goreskh, Helmand province
Despite suffering one dead and two seriously wounded last week, Operation Mountain Thrust has forced the insurgents out of villages and recovered areas not held by security forces for 30 years.
The full range of military hardware has been used against the Islamist guerrillas, including artillery from 7 Parachute Regiment and the Royal Horse Artillery and four attacks mounted by Apache helicopters using machineguns, missiles and rockets.
In one engagement troops pinned down by heavy gunfire called in artillery for the first time since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The extent of the battle was illustrated yesterday when the military reported killing six Taliban fighters who had been firing mortars at a police station from the Kajaki dam in northern Helmand. After observing the gun crew for several days, the Paras obliterated their position in a matter of seconds with their own mortars late on Saturday night.
Led by troops from 3 Bn the Parachute Regiment, the operation has pushed into villages up to 75 miles north of the British base at Camp Bastion and has killed up to 40 Taliban fighters.
Brig Butler: battle against the Taliban is ‘winnable’ Platoon houses, containing about 30 Paras, have been set up in at least five villages with troops driving out the Taliban and preventing them from returning.
While British commanders are reluctant to trumpet the early success of the mission, one senior officer said the Para battlegroup had been doing a "cracking job".
Brig Ed Butler, commander of the 3,300-strong 16 Air Assault Brigade, which has been leading the attacks, said there had been successes "from a security and tactical point of view".
"We very much have a window of opportunity which is emerging now. We are not just sitting in our bases," he said. "We are getting out and about and we are engaging with the locals." The battle against the Taliban was "winnable" although that would not necessarily be this year.
"The key thing to me is that as long as we have the popular support back home for this operation we can do it. If we lose the support back home and it becomes another Iraq then that will make our job as soldiers that much harder."
The British hope to drive out the Taliban from Helmand province by the end of the summer, paving the way for reconstruction teams to enter previously no-go zones. It is then hoped that they will be able to turn farmers away from growing opium, construct roads, windmills and wells and restore the rule of law.
Brig Butler said that the Taliban had not launched an offensive in the spring and with summer progressing there was still no suggestion of a "massing" of insurgents.
"They have got fewer and fewer places to go and hide," he added.
Taliban strength in the area has been estimated at more than 1,000. Some leadership is provided by mullahs hiding in mountains bordering Pakistan. British commanders described the terrorists as reasonably well armed, organised and motivated. They are also said to be equipped for suicide attacks or roadside bombs.
Brig Nick Pope, commander of 1 Signal Brigade based in Kabul, who had just returned from visiting troops in Helmand, said soldiers had advanced into the insurgents' "back yard".
"We have put the terrorists on the back foot and seized the initiative," he said.
Gereshk District takes the name of its principal municipality, Gereshk town (pop 110,000) in Helmand Province, Southern Afghanistan.
It sits on the intersection of Highway 1 (the 'Afghan ringroad', based on the old Silk Route and refurbished in the 1960's with US investment) and the Helmand River. A major stopping-point on the trade routes from Pakistan and Iran, Gereshk enjoys the prospect of returning to its historical prosperity, although this is under threat of Taliban resurgence in the region. Small numbers of coalition forces underpin the developing Afghan security forces in the province.
Great job! Glad to see this was no 'Market Garden.'
I wonder what WWII vets think when they read characterizations like that? They probably suffered more casualties in rehearsals than modern troops lose in combat.
I also wonder what they think when they hear the MSM use terms like "Quagmire" "Mistake", and "Mounting Casualties" to describe the current war. It must be surreal when they remember what they went through.
I am sure WWII veterans are truly amazed at the way in which individual deaths are reported. Although I am sure they are also relieved that this is the case and that we are not losing more of our soldiers.
I have a photograph of my grandfather and 5 friends carrying out officer training (field gun drill) at university prior to WWII. On outbreak of war, his friends joined the regular army as Officers, him as a private soldier (signalman).... He was the only one to survive the war.
The only problem, as the Christian convert episode showed, is that there is no substantial difference between the Taliban and everybody else and they flip all the time.
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