Shocking footage shows British troops in Afghanistan firefight
7th September 2006
Go get 'em, boys!: Footage of British troops in a firefight with Taliban fighters
Their base surrounded by Taliban fighters, a group of British troops fight for their lives to repel wave after wave of suicidal attacks.
This dramatic film footage of a bloody battle in Afghanistan was shot by a soldier on a mobile phone, who wanted to capture the bravery of UK troops.
With journalists largely kept away on the front line, the recording - released to the BBC - gives the first glimpse of how ferocious the fighting has become.
One of the grainy images shows a soldier with bare arms frantically loading a mortar as he throws everything he can at the attacking militants.
Another shows the troops from the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, leaning against a wall in trench as bombs fall around them.
In this firefight in the town of Sangin, in the Helmand Province, the lightly armed British soldiers called in air strikes to drop bombs on Taliban fighters approaching the front gate of their base.
The pictures underline the extreme dangers facing soldiers in Helmand, where British commanders claim they are facing the most intense fighting in the past 50 years.
There were 44 separate Taliban attacks on troops in Sangin alone last month, in which 125 of their fighters were killed.
Since June, British soldiers have fired an incredible 300,000 rounds of ammunition in Southern Afghanistan.
The soldiers who shot this footage said they released it because they did not want the bravery of the Paras in Afghanistan to go unnoticed at home.
The death toll among British forces in the country since 2001 stands at 40, including 19 since last Friday.
They include Corporal Bryan Budd, a paratrooper from the 3rd Battalion, who died during a firefight Sangin in August.
The soldier from Ripon, North Yorkshire, had a two-year-old daughter and his wife is expecting their second child this month.
His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal, was hailed by his commanders as softly spoken but a 'natural leader'.
He said: "Bryan died leading his men from the front, where he always was."
Go here to watch the video - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=404148&in_page_id=1770
dailymail.co.uk
7th September 2006
Go get 'em, boys!: Footage of British troops in a firefight with Taliban fighters
Their base surrounded by Taliban fighters, a group of British troops fight for their lives to repel wave after wave of suicidal attacks.
This dramatic film footage of a bloody battle in Afghanistan was shot by a soldier on a mobile phone, who wanted to capture the bravery of UK troops.
With journalists largely kept away on the front line, the recording - released to the BBC - gives the first glimpse of how ferocious the fighting has become.
One of the grainy images shows a soldier with bare arms frantically loading a mortar as he throws everything he can at the attacking militants.
Another shows the troops from the 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, leaning against a wall in trench as bombs fall around them.
In this firefight in the town of Sangin, in the Helmand Province, the lightly armed British soldiers called in air strikes to drop bombs on Taliban fighters approaching the front gate of their base.
The pictures underline the extreme dangers facing soldiers in Helmand, where British commanders claim they are facing the most intense fighting in the past 50 years.
There were 44 separate Taliban attacks on troops in Sangin alone last month, in which 125 of their fighters were killed.
Since June, British soldiers have fired an incredible 300,000 rounds of ammunition in Southern Afghanistan.
The soldiers who shot this footage said they released it because they did not want the bravery of the Paras in Afghanistan to go unnoticed at home.
The death toll among British forces in the country since 2001 stands at 40, including 19 since last Friday.
They include Corporal Bryan Budd, a paratrooper from the 3rd Battalion, who died during a firefight Sangin in August.
The soldier from Ripon, North Yorkshire, had a two-year-old daughter and his wife is expecting their second child this month.
His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Tootal, was hailed by his commanders as softly spoken but a 'natural leader'.
He said: "Bryan died leading his men from the front, where he always was."
Go here to watch the video - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=404148&in_page_id=1770
dailymail.co.uk