British troops destroy Taliban camp

British troops destroy Taliban camp 

British troops have destroyed a Taliban training camp in Afghanistan, killing dozens of the enemy, in a victory the military said would help bring electricity to nearly two million people.

About 110 Royal Marines swept through northern Helmand targeting insurgent boltholes to pave the way for much-needed repairs on a hydroelectric dam in the north of the restless province.

Launched on New Year's Day, Operation Clay saw troops from Plymouth-based 42 Commando engaged in four days of ferocious firefights.

The raids resulted in the deaths of a senior Taliban commander and "tens" of his henchmen.

Amazingly, only one marine was injured during the deadly battles. He was shot through the hand.

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, who is championing the scheme to fix the Kajaki Dam, has sent a personal message of thanks to Operation Clay's commanders.

Marauding Taliban fighters had been stalling repairs on faulty turbines at the dam, which is situated at the source of the Helmand River, but the work can now begin next month.

Once it is fixed, the facility, which was built in 1953, will bring electricity to 1.8 million people and treble the area of irrigated farmland in the fertile province.

Speaking from the British base at Lashkar Gah, military spokesman Major Oliver Lee said: "We needed to sort out the insurgency that there has been in the environs of Kajaki. And we very successfully did that over this past week or so with some very focused targeted military operations which included killing the key insurgency commander at that location.

"It involved running firefights for three of four days up against fairly coherent sustained attacks of small arms, rockets and indirect fire. It was a very meaningful fight, rest assured."