Dawn attack ... British soldier shoots at Taliban fighters
Sun on the front line with troops
By TOM NEWTON DUNN
Defence Editor on the front line in the Upper Gereshk Valley, Afghanistan
July 26, 2007
BRITISH troops in Afghanistan are making a daring push into an enemy powerbase known as the “Black Heart of the Taliban”.
The Sun’s Defence Editor Tom Newton Dunn and photographer Peter Jordan are embedded on the front line.
The major offensive, dubbed Operation Little Hammer, involves nearly 1,000 soldiers (mainly British but also Afghan and Estonian) and is expected to last a week.
It began on Tuesday but a news blackout on the struggle for the Taliban’s sturdiest stronghold can now be lifted . . .
CAPTAIN Piers Ashfield shouted into his radio handset from our vantage point on a hillside.
“They’re trying to send reinforcements down the drainage ditches from the north. Can we get some air on them?”
A few minutes later, an A10 Tankbuster jet screamed over our heads as the pilot threw it into a dive.
Letting out a roar that shook the earth, it pumped a five-second burst of 30mm Gatling gun fire on to its target.
The Taliban ploy was foiled in an instant . . . but they were quick to reply.
A barrage of mortar shells thumped into high ground just behind us, sending shrapnel screaming through the air. “F***, that was close,” cried Sgt Ernie Tindall, 34.
It was just after 7am — and the battle had already been raging for 90 minutes.
The cracks of rifle fire, thuds of grenades and smell of cordite filled the air.
Drag haul ... our Tom with opium
Three palls of black smoke spiralled up from a canal bridge — the first target of the attack where the fighting was still at its most intense.
Faced with such devastating firepower, the bridge’s determined defenders were doomed.
And it was finally seized half an hour later in an assault by a company from the 1st Battalion, the Royal Welsh.
The Sun is embedded with a 12 Mechanised Brigade battle group for the offensive in perilous Helmand province.
I watched as it began with a spectacular armoured charge across the barren desert at dawn.
Brand new Mastiff trucks crewed by Falcon Squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, took the enemy by surprise. It was vital they did.
Taking cover ... Afghan army soldier with rocket grenades
hides in maize field while a British Chinook sends out decoy flares
The region, in the Upper Gereshk Valley around the towns of Hyderabad and Mirmandab, is where Taliban chiefs enforce total loyalty over a terrified population, hence its “Black Heart” tag.
It is many miles from any coalition base and its thick vegetation, fed by the Helmand River, makes it almost impenetrable for heavy vehicles.
Its fields are covered in opium poppies. And Taliban leaders encourage their foot-soldiers to shoot up to give them a feeling of invincibility.
Operation Little Hammer will have two phases.
First, British commanders intend to smash the Taliban stronghold and drive them out.
Then, they will try to prevent a return by winning over locals with rapid regeneration projects.
By 8.30am, No3 Company of the Grenadier Guards had moved through the Royal Welsh’s lines.
They were swiftly joined by a unit of Afghan National Army soldiers and their British mentors, with 100 Estonian troops in reserve.
Once inside a thick tree line dubbed the Green Zone by squaddies, the push became painfully slow and arduous.
The enemy had to be cleared from every compound over a ten square-mile area.
Direct hit ... smoke billows as British artillery shell rocks Taliban compound
The work was hot and hard, firefights were intense — and casualties were taken.
As he was resupplying his men with ammo, Guards colour sergeant Steve Williams, 35, took a blast from a rocket-propelled grenade that exploded 10ft away.
Shrapnel seared deep into his left hand and arm.
He was bandaged for a chopper flight to a field hospital but told me: “I’m well p****d off. The medic told me I’ll have to go back to England over this one. I only got posted ten days ago. My place is with my mates.”
His words typified the single-minded determination Our Boys showed all around us.
The units also called on support 105mm field guns and an 81mm mortar line.
Five soldiers had to be evacuated with heatstroke as the afternoon temperature topped 45°C.
After a two-hour fight to take one Taliban compound, I found a vat of opium sap and a handful of used hypodermic needles.
By the end of Day One, Our Boys had advanced more than half a mile. More than 20 Taliban fighters were confirmed dead.
One left behind in the rush to abandon a compound, where we spent Tuesday night, was a young Pakistani shot through the chest.
British troops buried him with the help of Muslim interpreters, leaving a sign for his family, who may come to find him later.
The push was yet another reminder that the enemy in the Afghan badlands must never be underestimated.
The commander of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force, Major Andy Macintyre, 33, said: “Not only do they stand and fight against overwhelming force, but they also counter attack, try to outflank and even encircle us.
“Militarily, we should be crushing them but they’re not idiots.”
Brigadier John Lorimer, commander of UK forces in Helmand, said: “For three months we have taken the fight to the enemy.
“The Taliban are on the back foot and they don’t like it. The British public should be proud of my soldiers.”
Leader ... Sgt Layton
Medal for seige hero
A MARINE commando has been awarded the Military Cross for his leadership during a 15-day siege by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.Sgt Jason Layton, 37, of Bonllwyn, South Wales, and his 90 troops held out against 400 rebels in Sangin.
He said: “We are in Afghanistan to clear it for infrastructure — but if somebody wants a fight, they’ll get one.”
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