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Hell Breaks Lose in Afghanistan: Brits in Biggest Fight Yet Since Invasion

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
[Jon Snow's mostly useless news updates reported this today, with no
URL to an extended story or even a Video link: This is one to watch.
See comments interspersed between just a few of the stories below.-NYTr]

Channel 4 News - Snowmail (UK) - Dec 9, 2007
http://www.channel4.com


Afghanistan engagement
======================

Lucy Manning reports on the biggest British armed engagement since the
Iraq war in Afghanistan, now underway for over 48 hours. The defence
ministry in Kabul said today that Afghan and NATO-led forces have
captured two senior Taliban leaders during an offensive to retake the
insurgents' most important stronghold. Musa Qala, in the southern
province of Helmand, is symbolic for both sides in the conflict in
Afghanistan as the only sizeable Afghan town controlled by the Taliban. 

                         ***

[So ... after a search of the english-language media, here's some of
what's being reported. Seems like a major deal, and as if they are
trying desperately right now not to lose Kabul itself. Sounds a
bit like Hue during the Tet Offensive, or maybe even Dien Bien Phu.
They've even been reinforced by "several HUNDRED" US Airborne troops.
Half of the entire Brit deployment is involved in this, and it's been
more than 2 days already.The Brits apparently have not studied or
understood their own previous defeats, the utter defeat of the French
in Vietnam, the complete defeat of the US in Vietnam, or the experience
of the USSR in Afghanistan.  

"Rudimentary weapons?"  A cross-bow could take out fancy US choppers in
Vietnam -- and did. "Take the town?" -- with 100 Brit troops barricaded
into some tiny hole where they can't be resupplied with water, food,
ammo? The "British-trained Afghan Army is going to do all the hard
work?" Riiight. The ARVN will die for the USA, when what they know
about the invaders has been trained and shared by the USA?  In
conventional military battles, you need 8,000 invading soldiers to take
on 2,000 defenders -- 4:1. They don't have more than 3,000 -- HALF the
entire Brit force in-country -- to face 2,000 (according to the Taliban)
insurgents. Assume the Taliban is underestimating.  Assume
surrounding the town means shit when they don't have a clue that
the nice Afghans who say "Numbah One G.I." to the Brits have an
exit to the tunnels and caves and half the "Brit-trained" Afghan
army will actually be joining the other side when the time is
right.  Oh, and it's all based, allegedly, on a Taliban who 
"defected" to Hamid Karzai.  Does anyone smell a small rat here?-NYTr]

                              ***

UPI - Dec 9, 2007
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/12/09/upi_newstrack_topnews/3525/

British attack Taliban in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- One soldier was killed and several
wounded in the largest combat operation undertaken yet by British
troops against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

As many as 3,000 of the 7,000 British troops in Afghanistan were
involved in Saturday night's battle against the Taliban's most
strategic stronghold in southern Afghanistan, Britain's Telegraph
reported Sunday.

One British soldier died Saturday as helicopters and combat jets
attacked the Taliban stronghold in Musa Qala in Helmand province, where
the Taliban claim to have nearly 2,000 fighters, the Telegraph
reported. The number of Taliban casualties was not known.

In fighting during the past several days, Taliban commanders have said
their fighters were prepared to fight to the death while others would
engage in suicide attacks against advancing British soldiers, the
Telegraph reported.

The Taliban reportedly have spent months laying minefields, building
bunkers and digging trenches in preparation for the British attack.


                                ***

The Telegraph - Dec 9, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/09/wafg809.xml

British troops close in on Taliban stronghold

By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent and Tom Coghlan in Kabul

British and Afghan troops have closed in on the Taliban stronghold of
Musa Qala, sparking fierce clashes in the town's outskirts.

RELATED STORIES: (Below)

* A deadly Afghan battle like none other

* Analysis: Loss of mountain stronghold will hurt Taliban

The coalition forces are paving the way for an all-out assault on the
last urban base held by the insurgents in Helmand. 

Thousands of UK troops in Afghan assault in southern Afghanistan

British forces conducted probing attacks against the Taliban positions
to gather intelligence on the insurgent forces

A resident of Musa Qala told the Associated Press that Taliban fighters
had been pushed back into the centre of town by a concerted onslaught.

"If you think of it like a house, the house is surrounded, the Afghan
army is waiting outside. We are in the process of kicking the door in,
then the Afghan army is going through it," said British army spokesman
Lieutenant Colonel Richard Eaton.

The Afghan government claims that a large number of Taliban fighters
have heeded its call to lay down their arms but the group responded
today by warning that its forces were well dug-in and would inflict
heavy casualties on attackers.

"Right now it is going according to plan. As to how tough the fighting
will or will not be, that is up to the insurgents," said General Dan
McNeill, the commander of NATO's International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

The latest phase of the operation began at dusk on Friday when hundreds
of airborne troops from Task Force Fury launched an assault by
helicopter on an area north of the town, a complex of high-walled
compounds and narrow, dusty alleyways which armoured vehicles find
difficult to penetrate.

Early on Saturday, coalition forces, which include the British Army's
52 Brigade, the Afghan National Army and America's Task Force Fury,
successfully surrounded the Taliban stronghold, where insurgent
commanders claim up to 2,000 of their fighters are based.

Musa Qala has been under Taliban control since February after its
commanders reneged on a peace deal whereby British and insurgent forces
withdrew at the behest of local people in October 2006.

Hundreds of insurgents stormed the town in February, destroying the
government building and ejecting the ruling council.

The battle for Musa Qala, which Nato forces have codenamed Operation
Mar Kardad - meaning snake pit - began secretly on November 2, when
British forces pushed north from the town of Sangin in an attempt to
test Taliban defences in the area.

In the past week, the British have conducted probing attacks against
the Taliban positions to gather intelligence on the opposing insurgent
forces and the types of weapons with which they are equipped.

It is understood that more British troops are being thrown into this
action than any previous assault in Afghanistan: up to 3,000 of the
total force of 7,000 in the country, although commanders refused to be
specific.

Military sources have described the Taliban's resistance as "sporadic
but determined" and some of the fighting is understood to have taken
place at close quarters.

British troops from Royal Marines 40 Commando, 2nd Btn the Yorkshire
Regiment and 1st Bn the Scots Guards, supported by light tanks from the
Household Cavalry, are currently fighting what the Army calls the
"break-in battle".

Road links, bridges and river crossings have been blocked and all
access points into and out of the town are now reported to be in the
hands of the coalition.

In the next phase, expected to begin within two days, hundreds of
soldiers from the Afghan National Army will be sent to clear the town
of any remaining Taliban fighters.

Hundreds of residents were preparing to leave and some had already
begun to flee, fearful of the onslaught to come.

Gul Ahmad Khan, 55, said he and his family would go to a safer area
before troops - who were two miles from the centre - came closer.
Another resident said troops were in outlying villages.

                                ***

The Telegraph - Dec 9, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=J2GID13IM5T5DQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2007/12/09/wafg209.xml

A deadly Afghan battle like none other

By Sean Rayment and Tom Coghlan in Kabul

Operation Mar Kardad (or "Snakebite") was secretly launched early on
November 2 - well before dawn. 

A small [?] British force set off northward from their base in Sangin
along Route 611, the dirt track that forms the main highway to Musa
Qala, the Taliban's last remaining stronghold in Helmand province,
southern Afghanistan.

Troops on foot and in armoured vehicles were ordered to probe the
Taliban's defences on the outskirts of the town to discover where they
were strongest and weakest - vital intelligence for the battle ahead.

The Taliban knew the British would one day attack. Only the date was
uncertain. But after a senior Taliban commander defected to President
Hamid Karzai's government, Nato chiefs decided the time had come to
strike.

This weekend, their forces are engaged in a battle like none other
since British troops entered Helmand in April last year.

More British forces are being used in this action than in any other
battle in Afghanistan: anything up to 3,000 of the total force of 7,000
in the country, although commanders refused to be specific.

The plan is for the most difficult house-to-house fighting to be left
to the soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) which, with British
training, has grown from a ragtag collection of volunteers to a
professional force capable of holding its own in battle.

Using Afghan soldiers to help force the insurgents from Musa Qala is
meant to send a message - not just to the Taliban but also to the
people of Helmand. The main phase of the operation, which involves
thousands of British, US and ANA troops, began last week when Nato
forces began to encircle the town.

In a series of feints and probing attacks, the British troops from 52
Infantry Brigade, which includes Royal Marines from 42 Commando,
soldiers from 2nd Bn the Yorkshire Regiment and the Household Cavalry,
began testing rebel defences.

The town has been in Taliban hands for almost 10 months, and the
insurgents had prepared heavily fortified bunkers and trench positions,
protected by minefields. The size of the force inside is un-known. The
Taliban say they have more than 2000 fighters, although the British say
300 is a more realistic figure.

As Nato forces pushed forwards, the Taliban withdrew in a series
skirmishes. Apache attack helicopters, working in pairs, began to
destroy enemy positions. Larger compounds were bombed by combat jets.
Mortar and artillery barrages threatened any rebels venturing into the
open.

British commanders call this the "break-in battle". Lt Col Richard
Eaton, the Helmand task force commander, said: "We are kicking the door
in so that others can enter."

Taliban commanders say they have inflicted many casualties on the
British and Afghan forces.

Although this was denied by the Ministry of Defence, The Sunday
Telegraph has established that at least two British soldiers have been
killed and several wounded, bringing the total number killed in
Afghanistan since 2001 to 86.

At dusk on Friday, several hundred US airborne soldiers, flying in on
helicopters, swept in to the north of the town, and by yesterday, Musa
Qala was completely surrounded.

Some time in the next two days, Operation Mar Kardad will enter its
final and potentially most dangerous phase when the ANA moves in to
flush out the Taliban.

British commanders hope that the rebels will flee or surrender, rather
than stand and fight because, although the insurgents will lose, it is
probable that the ANA - who will be doing most of the fighting - will
also suffer heavy casualties.

Such is the strategic significance of Musa Qala, however, that it is
highly unlikely that the Taliban will surrender without a fight.

Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, the main spokesman for the Taliban, who is not in
Musa Qala, told The Sunday Telegraph: "We are fighting back with our
heavy weapons and with ambushes.

"We have air defence facilities with us. If their helicopters come they
will face retribution. And we have fedayeen suicide attackers. We have
killed about 35 soldiers. Most are Afghan National Army, but a few were
foreign soldiers."

Mullah Ahmad Muslim, a Taliban commander inside Musa Qala, added: "My
soldiers have pushed the British back from the edge of the town. We
have seen the bodies of 20 Afghan National Army soldiers.

"The fighting goes on, but the British have been pushed back to the
desert."

British commanders insist they are winning and dismiss the Taliban's
claims as "cheap propaganda".

Col Eaton added: "The real battle is winning over the people. That is
the real prize."

                               ***

The Telegraph - Dec 9, 2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=J2GID13IM5T5DQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2007/12/09/wafg309.xml

Loss of mountain stronghold will hurt Taliban

By Sean Rayment

Analysis: The hub of their narcotics trade will fall, but this is not
the end of the insurgents, writes Sean Rayment

The town of Musa Qala, which sits high in the north of Helmand, has
strategic and symbolic value for both the British forces and the
Taliban.

Last year it was occupied by British troops for more than three months,
until resupplying problems caused them to withdraw.

In the next 28 to 48 hours, the last major town held by the Taliban in
the province is likely to fall to coalition forces once again. Its loss
will be a severe blow for the publicity-conscious Taliban commanders.

Musa Qala has become the hub of all Taliban activity in Helmand - where
recruits are trained and equipped, and the centre of Helmand's vast
narcotics trade.

Its current occupants have boasted that British and US troops would
never be able to retake the town because the Taliban were too strong.

True enough, Taliban commanders had spent months laying minefields and
building well-fortified bunkers and trenches.

But in reality the capture of the town should not be a problem for the
British. Against the Taliban's rudimentary weapons, the coalition is
deploying highly trained troops and using heavy armour and air support.

The problem last time was resupplying the town once it had been taken.
>From the moment British troops first arrived in the summer of last
year, they came under daily Taliban attack.

There was never a real danger of the town being over-run, but it proved
a hard task to keep the 100-strong British force resupplied with food,
water and ammunition.

So when the town's elders proposed a peace deal by which both British
and Taliban would withdraw, coalition commanders agreed. But four
months later, the Taliban reneged on the deal and took back control of
Musa Qala.

So why have the British attacked now? First, to take advantage of
disarray in the Taliban's high command, after senior leaders defected
to the Karzai government.

Second, the coalition believes it now has enough troops to secure the
town in the longer term, thanks to the growing military prowess of the
Afghan National Army.

But the success of Operation Mar Kardad does not spell the end of the
Taliban in Helmand.

A parallel battle for the hearts and mind of the local population is
under way, and Taliban commanders are not afraid to use the most cruel
methods to ensure that Afghans live in fear of their return.

A report that they hanged a 12-year-old boy whom they suspected of
disclosing the location of roadside bombs shows the lengths to which
they will go.

The Taliban still have no shortage of volunteers willing to die for
their cruel cause, and they will be back.

                                 *
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