Marines cling to helicopters to rescue comrade
When the 200-strong team was forced to pull back from a battle with Taliban fighters at a fortress in southern Helmand Province on Monday, they realised that L/Cpl Matthew Ford was not with them.
Not knowing whether he had been killed or wounded, the unit launched an improvised rescue attempt in which four soldiers rode astride the fixed wings of two Apache helicopters, clinging to the sides of the aircraft, as they flew back over a river into a rain of fire.
When they landed near the walls of the Taliban fortress, known as Fort Jugroom, the team found that Cpl Ford had been killed and returned with his body.
"It's a testament to the men involved that they were prepared to mount a risky operation at very short notice, using a new and completely untried procedure, returning into the line of fire in order to rescue their comrade," said Col Rory Bruce, the spokesman for British forces in Helmand last night.
"I think that shows the level of camaraderie and bravery of those soldiers involved."
It is expected that some of them will be recommended for awards for bravery.
The assault was the latest in a new phase of British operations in Helmand, which has seen a shift from the tactics employed in the first months of the British deployment to southern Afghanistan last summer. While British forces still maintain a number of "platoon houses", fortified bases in towns in north Helmand, which were subjected to intense Taliban attacks last summer, another concept is being tried against the Taliban. The Marines call it "mogging'.
Small British units are now spending weeks at a time moving through the featureless deserts of Helmand. They are re-supplied from the air and seek to emulate many of the tactical advantages of mobility and surprise traditionally enjoyed by the insurgents.
By avoiding well-used tracks and roads they reduce the threat from roadside bombs and can appear out of the desert, strike a target and disappear again.
Monday's attack, near the town of Garmser, was an example of just such an intelligence-led raid.
British military commanders stress that the object was not to take and hold the fort, but to kill experienced and tactically astute Taliban commanders, who would be hard to replace, and to disrupt Taliban re-organisation during the winter months when it traditionally prepares for a spring offensive.
"Last summer's tactics were not all of our choice, but were the result of a number of political decisions which were taken by the Afghan government," said one senior British military source.
"Mogging is not about taking and holding ground, it is about having the battle at the time and place of our choosing and moving into the Taliban's sanctuary ground.
"It is not about the numbers of Taliban killed and you will find us generally reluctant to give numbers killed.
"Monday's operation succeeded in killing a number of middle-rank Taliban leaders. We lost one soldier, which is a source of regret. But the effect on the enemy is both real and psychological."
However, the strength and tenacity of the resistance on Monday by a force of Taliban fighters numbering only around 30 against 200 Royal Marines backed by artillery and aircraft gives clear warning that the Taliban are becoming an ever more formidable force numbering fighters who do not lack for courage or motivation. The months ahead are likely to see more hard fighting.
The Telegraph also included a Picture of the rescue attempt :
Hey there! I hope all is well with you - has Marine been back on his R&R yet? x
Posted by: Kath | 07/02/2007 at 10:21