A soldier's eye view of front-line Afghanistan
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph
19/11/2006
In a remarkable series of pictures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, a unique insight into life of British soldiers on the front line in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, is revealed.
Bullet cases lie at a paratrooper's feet after a ferocious firefight
The cross hairs of a sniper's scope move towards two Taliban suspects crouching on a dusty road in southern Afghanistan.
A smiling paratrooper rests on his .50-calibre heavy machine gun. The pile of empty bullet cases between his legs is testament to the ferocity of the fighting that had finished just moments earlier.
In a remarkable series of pictures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, a unique insight into life British soldiers on the front line in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, is revealed.
The images graphically illustrate the grim reality of daily life for British soldiers fighting a violent counter-insurgency, 3,000 miles from home.
The pictures, which are published as Tony Blair is in the region, were not taken by professional photographers but by the soldiers themselves, in order to record a war that the Government wanted no one to know was being fought.
Helmand is the largest province in Afghanistan and one of the few places in the country that the Taliban never fully vacated.
Today they are back in force, trying – and occasionally succeeding – to kill British troops, produce tons of opium to sell to the West to finance their war, and attempting to impose their form of fundamental Islam on a people who have not known peace in 30 years.
When the British arrived in the middle of May as part of Nato's expansion into the southern half of the country, the Taliban began a violent campaign which developed into what was later described as the most "intense period of fighting involving British troops since the Korean War".
Helmand, an area approximately four times the size of Wales, is also the place where John Reid, the then defence secretary, said he hoped British troops would be able to leave "without firing a shot", but where in a few short weeks, between June and September, 34 servicemen died and dozens more were injured.
British soldiers enjoy a welcome break from the fighting
While the rest of Britain and much of the world was engrossed in the World Cup, 3,200 British troops were fighting for their lives in Sangin, Nowzad and Musa Quala – three small towns whose names became synonymous with the deaths of British soldiers.
In a series of startling images, British paratroopers and members of the Royal Irish Regiment can be seen in the thick of battle and patrolling through a town which has been left devastated by the effects of modern warfare.
Other images reveal the effect of what a suicide bomber can do in a crowded street; the nauseating images are far too graphic to be published in a newspaper. But life for the soldiers does occasionally have its lighter side. Some of the photographs show that troops manage to have fun and relax in the brief moments of relative calm when they are not embroiled in fighting the Taliban.
LIFE OF BRITISH SOLDIERS ON THE FRONT LINE
This remarkable series of photographs obtained by The Sunday Telegraph gives a unique insight into life on the front line in southern Afghanistan
--------------------
The images illustrate the grim reality of daily life for British soliders fighting in Afghanistan, as well as the odd moment of relaxation
--------------------
The pictures are published on the day Tony Blair is visiting troops in the country
-----------------------
Helmand is the largest province in Afghanistan and one of the few places that Taliban never fully vacated
---------------------
Now they are back in force, trying and occasionally suceeding, in killing British troops
----------------------
When the British arrived in May as part of Nato's expansion into the south, the Taliban began a violent campaign against them
----------------------
Helmand was the area John Reid had hoped British troops would leave "without firing a shot"
---------------------
But in these images British troops can be seen in the thick of battle
-----------------------
British soldiers with what appears to be one of their prisoners
------------------------
Some show troops engaged in fighting
-----------------------
Some show British soldiers helping out civilians
------------------------
But all serve as a stark reminder of the daily risks taken by British troops on the front line.
telegraph.co.uk
***************************************
Why are there hardly any pictures of Canadian or other soldiers in Afghanistan?
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph
19/11/2006
In a remarkable series of pictures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, a unique insight into life of British soldiers on the front line in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, is revealed.
Bullet cases lie at a paratrooper's feet after a ferocious firefight
The cross hairs of a sniper's scope move towards two Taliban suspects crouching on a dusty road in southern Afghanistan.
A smiling paratrooper rests on his .50-calibre heavy machine gun. The pile of empty bullet cases between his legs is testament to the ferocity of the fighting that had finished just moments earlier.
In a remarkable series of pictures obtained by The Sunday Telegraph, a unique insight into life British soldiers on the front line in Helmand, southern Afghanistan, is revealed.
The images graphically illustrate the grim reality of daily life for British soldiers fighting a violent counter-insurgency, 3,000 miles from home.
The pictures, which are published as Tony Blair is in the region, were not taken by professional photographers but by the soldiers themselves, in order to record a war that the Government wanted no one to know was being fought.
Helmand is the largest province in Afghanistan and one of the few places in the country that the Taliban never fully vacated.
Today they are back in force, trying – and occasionally succeeding – to kill British troops, produce tons of opium to sell to the West to finance their war, and attempting to impose their form of fundamental Islam on a people who have not known peace in 30 years.
When the British arrived in the middle of May as part of Nato's expansion into the southern half of the country, the Taliban began a violent campaign which developed into what was later described as the most "intense period of fighting involving British troops since the Korean War".
Helmand, an area approximately four times the size of Wales, is also the place where John Reid, the then defence secretary, said he hoped British troops would be able to leave "without firing a shot", but where in a few short weeks, between June and September, 34 servicemen died and dozens more were injured.
British soldiers enjoy a welcome break from the fighting
While the rest of Britain and much of the world was engrossed in the World Cup, 3,200 British troops were fighting for their lives in Sangin, Nowzad and Musa Quala – three small towns whose names became synonymous with the deaths of British soldiers.
In a series of startling images, British paratroopers and members of the Royal Irish Regiment can be seen in the thick of battle and patrolling through a town which has been left devastated by the effects of modern warfare.
Other images reveal the effect of what a suicide bomber can do in a crowded street; the nauseating images are far too graphic to be published in a newspaper. But life for the soldiers does occasionally have its lighter side. Some of the photographs show that troops manage to have fun and relax in the brief moments of relative calm when they are not embroiled in fighting the Taliban.
LIFE OF BRITISH SOLDIERS ON THE FRONT LINE
This remarkable series of photographs obtained by The Sunday Telegraph gives a unique insight into life on the front line in southern Afghanistan
--------------------
The images illustrate the grim reality of daily life for British soliders fighting in Afghanistan, as well as the odd moment of relaxation
--------------------
The pictures are published on the day Tony Blair is visiting troops in the country
-----------------------
Helmand is the largest province in Afghanistan and one of the few places that Taliban never fully vacated
---------------------
Now they are back in force, trying and occasionally suceeding, in killing British troops
----------------------
When the British arrived in May as part of Nato's expansion into the south, the Taliban began a violent campaign against them
----------------------
Helmand was the area John Reid had hoped British troops would leave "without firing a shot"
---------------------
But in these images British troops can be seen in the thick of battle
-----------------------
British soldiers with what appears to be one of their prisoners
------------------------
Some show troops engaged in fighting
-----------------------
Some show British soldiers helping out civilians
------------------------
But all serve as a stark reminder of the daily risks taken by British troops on the front line.
telegraph.co.uk
***************************************
Why are there hardly any pictures of Canadian or other soldiers in Afghanistan?
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