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Duke of Lancaster soldiers lead assault on Taliban (From The Westmorland Gazette)
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Duke of Lancaster soldiers lead assault on Taliban
6:20pm Friday 30th July 2010
More stories about: Duke Of Lancaster's Regiment
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- By Chris Hopper » Reporter
HUNDREDS of North West soldiers are today leading a major assault to seize control of an Afghanistan town from the Taliban.
It is the first time the 1st Battalion, The Duke Of Lancaster's Regiment, has led an operation on this scale in the conflict.
Early today, troops were sent behind enemy lines into Saidabad. The mission is due to take days to complete as soldiers battle up to 180 insurgents in the Helmand Province town.
Army chiefs said the area was loaded with home-made bombs which have killed scores of British soldiers in the campaign.
International forces were unable to clear the Taliban from the town during Operation Moshtarak earlier this year. That offensive saw 15,000 troops take part in the biggest push against insurgents since the conflict began in 2001.
Today hundreds of UK soldiers, led by the Duke of Lancaster's, launched the Operation Tor Shezada under cover of darkness.
They travelled from coalition base Camp Bastion in Chinook helicopters and landed near the town. Their first objective was to clear compounds and establish bases.
Soldiers created firing points along the rooftops out of sandbags, with machine guns, mortars and rifles.
Communication equipment was also set up and food and water brought along as the mission is expected to take days.
This evening, army chiefs said the operation to 'secure the town was ongoing'.
They declared the start of the mission ‘successful’ but warned that days of hard work lay ahead.
Saidabad is thought to be home to around 180 insurgents who use it as a base to make bombs and plan attacks.
In the past they have provided stiff resistance. One commanding officer is reported as saying they will try to 'steal' Saidabad but were 'prepared to fight for it'.
Six hundred Duke of Lancaster's Regiment soldiers are currently four months in their six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
The 1st Batallion, chosen for the mission because it is a complete infrantry regiment, recruits exclusively from Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and the Isle of Man.
They are leading the operation, representing the NATO Isaf (international security assistance force), along with Afghan counterparts.
Lieutenant Colonel James Carr-Smith said: "During the early hours, under the cover of darkness, the joint Isaf and Afghan Operation Tor Shezada launched successfully.
"The operation is currently ongoing and reports back from the commanders on the ground say it is progressing according to plan.
"Operation Tor Shezada will continue the momentum generated by Operation Moshtarak earlier this year.
“Its aims are very much supported by local Afghans living in and around the area of Saidabad.
“They are keen that insurgents be removed so that they can live, work and travel there safely.”
Lt Col Carr-Smith said they aimed to push insurgents away from the Afghan population.
He continued: "It will further dislocate insurgents and deny them a base from which to attack the Nad-e Ali and Marjah areas, making the local population safer and reducing the threat to Isaf and ANSF troops.
"In time, the operation will enable the Afghan government to begin development projects in the area, including the planned refurbishment of Saidabad school, health clinic and bazaar.”
Saidabad sits between Nad-e Ali and Marjah in central Helmand, with a small community of around 6,000 Afghans, mostly from Pashtun Ishaqzai and Hazara backgrounds.
The Trikh Zabur canal runs to the south of the area, with a crossing point which allows movement between Nad-e Ali and Marjah.
Improved security around this important crossing point will increase freedom of movement for locals.
The Afghan government will begin stabilisation activities as soon as conditions allow, including the refurbishment of Saidabad school and health clinic.
The British-run provincial reconstruction team in Helmand will support this activity with projects of its own, including 'cash for work' programmes which employ locals to develop their own communities.
Moshtarak, involving 15,000 Nato and Afghan troops, was the largest attempt to flush out Taliban fighters since the conflict in Afghanistan began in 2001. Nearly a third of those involved were British personnel.
So far, no casualties have been reported as part of Operation Tor Shezada.
Click on the link below for a photo gallery of the Duke of Lancaster soldiers in Operation Tor Shezada.
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Your Say YourGazette
Stone Island, Blackburn says...
4:34pm Fri 30 Jul 10
ste.g, blackburn says...
5:47pm Fri 30 Jul 10
andy1, burnley says...
6:44pm Fri 30 Jul 10
ossy, Oswaldtwistle says...
10:38am Sat 31 Jul 10
pappa, says...
11:04am Sat 31 Jul 10
Chris P Bacon, Colne says...
12:22pm Sat 31 Jul 10
pappa wrote:Under exactly WHO'S jurisdiction?
goodluck with the ILLEGAL WAR
I wish the very best our luck to our marvellous soldiers who bring deserved pride on our country and, in this case, on our great county.
Chris P Bacon, Colne says...
12:40pm Sat 31 Jul 10
pappa wrote:A) It's not a war.
Chris P Bacon wrote:ok then clever d1ck what is the war over
pappa wrote: goodluck with the ILLEGAL WARUnder exactly WHO'S jurisdiction? I wish the very best our luck to our marvellous soldiers who bring deserved pride on our country and, in this case, on our great county.
B) Don't you mean 'when' is the war over?
C) You are as dim as a 40 watt lightbulb painted black before it's been switched on.
hasslem hasslem, lower cumberworth says...
12:58pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Chris P Bacon wrote:It is not an illegal War - but it is hard to find a justification for what we are doing there.
pappa wrote:A) It's not a war.
Chris P Bacon wrote:ok then clever d1ck what is the war over
pappa wrote: goodluck with the ILLEGAL WARUnder exactly WHO'S jurisdiction? I wish the very best our luck to our marvellous soldiers who bring deserved pride on our country and, in this case, on our great county.
B) Don't you mean 'when' is the war over?
C) You are as dim as a 40 watt lightbulb painted black before it's been switched on.
.
The initial objective which was to find and eliminate our pal Osama, now seems to have been forgotten and we seem to be in there for exactly the same reason as the soviets were in the 80s and with no real way of getting out.
.
Strictly speaking we (among the other countries troops) are an Army of Occupation - which can be classified as a War. If you don't think it is War...how would you classify it?
.
You have to feel sorry for the poor blokes (and women) who are caught up in this and have no real idea what they are fighting for.
Chris P Bacon, Colne says...
1:06pm Sat 31 Jul 10
So the word 'war' is pedantic. As NATO gave the operation legitimacy (basically to deny Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban a hiding space in the aftermath of the 9/11 affair), then soft ollies above ('pappa') illustrates his stupidity by claiming it is 'illegal'. We still await his justification in calling it such.
A Darener, Darwen says...
1:24pm Sat 31 Jul 10
pappa, says...
1:57pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Chris P Bacon wrote:The invasion of Afghanistan was not legitimate self-defense under article 51 of the charter because the attacks on Sept. 11 were criminal attacks, not "armed attacks" by another country. Afghanistan did not attack the United States. In fact, it was an inside job(http://www.tvnew
pappa wrote: goodluck with the ILLEGAL WARUnder exactly WHO'S jurisdiction? I wish the very best our luck to our marvellous soldiers who bring deserved pride on our country and, in this case, on our great county.
slies.org/html/9_11_
facts.html) . Furthermore, there was not an imminent threat of an armed attack on the United States after Sept. 11, or Bush would not have waited three weeks before initiating his October 2001 bombing campaign. The necessity for self-defense must be "instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation." This classic principle of self-defense in international law has been affirmed by the Nuremberg Tribunal and the U.N. General Assembly.
Bush's justification for attacking Afghanistan was that it was harboring Osama bin Laden and training terrorists. Iranians could have made the same argument to attack the United States after they overthrew the vicious Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1979 and he was given safe haven in the United States. The people in Latin American countries whose dictators were trained in torture techniques at the School of the Americas could likewise have attacked the torture training facility in Fort Benning, Ga., under that specious rationale. Those who conspired to so called hijack the airplanes and kill thousands of people on 9/11 are guilty of crimes against humanity. They must be identified and brought to justice in accordance with the law. But retaliation by invading Afghanistan is not the answer and will only lead to the deaths of more of our troops and Afghans.
hasslem hasslem, lower cumberworth says...
3:59pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Chris P Bacon wrote:Whilst I agree with most of what you say most of the host nation still see the occupying force as an Army of Occupation.
It's an ongoing operation run by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was established by the UN Security Council at the end of December 2001 to secure Kabul and the surrounding areas. NATO assumed control of ISAF in 2003. By July 23, 2009, ISAF had around 64,500 troops from 42 countries, with NATO members providing the core of the force. The NATO commitment is particularly important to the United States because it gives international legitimacy to the war!
So the word 'war' is pedantic. As NATO gave the operation legitimacy (basically to deny Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban a hiding space in the aftermath of the 9/11 affair), then soft ollies above ('pappa') illustrates his stupidity by claiming it is 'illegal'. We still await his justification in calling it such.
.
The Ruskies thought there was a legitimate rationale for being in there too. As Britain did in Rudyard Kipling's days. We will withdraw with egg on our faces as did the Russians as did the Brits a couple of centuries ago.
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The truth is that Afghanistan is a country unlike any other in the World and trying to treat it as such will ultimately result in failure. Regrettably, the normal western thought process cannot understand how it functions (or not).
.
As for the Taleban - it is virtually all locally derived and it is the previous occupying force of Al Qeada (spelling?) that is as much an unwelcome guest as the UN force.
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Our mutual friend is obviously not altogether there if he continues to believe in the conspiracy theory that the Twin Towers was an inside job. . . Yeah right.
ASSAULT: Soldiers from 1 Lancs keeping each others backs covered during a compound clearance exercise.
FIRE: A soldier firing a Light Machine Gun (LMG) inside the compound clearance range at Camp Bastion
SHAKE: Troops on the joint operation being conducted by ISAF and Afghan troops.
WATCH: Troops on the joint operation being conducted by ISAF and Afghan troops.
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retired one, Blackburn says...
3:37pm Fri 30 Jul 10