16 NAVY NEWS, MARCH 2009
A
TALEBAN leader killed, two
major weapons hauls seized,
a headquarters’ compound
captured, a bomb factory
smashed, four drug factories wiped out.
Royal Marines delivered telling blows to insurgents
across southern Afghanistan, seizing the impetus in the
struggle to bring peace and stability to Kandahar and
Helmand.
With the winter sun slowly rising over the Upper Sangin
valley, 120 men of X-Ray and Yankee Companies, 45
Commando, and 30 Afghan troops lay in wait on the
banks of the Helmand River.
All through the night the men had slogged over
rugged farm land, dissected by irrigation ditches and
canals.
Now, at dawn, they were poised to unleash Operation
Ghartse Palang – Lion – against Taleban strongholds
around Mazak, a mile or so outside the Royals’ forward
base, Inkerman.
With fi rst light they pushed into the sprawling series
of interlocking compounds, guided by the Afghan
soldiers whose knowledge of the land and the people
proved vital.
“Unless we’re confi dent that the enemy are inside,
then our entry is always a ‘soft knock’,” explained Sgt
David ‘Tommo’ Thompson, 8 Troop, Yankee Company.
“Minimal force, maximum care.
“Before entering any compound, we are always aware
of the threat of booby traps. This undoubtedly puts a A
lot of stress on younger lads, but for the members of
the troop – some straight from training, aged as young
as 18 – this is part of daily routine that has to become
the norm.”
Searching compounds does not merely require
cool heads and brave hearts. It also demands man’s
best friend – specialist dogs (plus handlers) were
fundamental to Operation Lion – and metal detectors.
The deeper the troops moved through the complex,
the more the search teams began to unearth: rocket-
propelled grenades, explosive charges, bombs, shells,
fuses, rifl es, pistols.
With an ever-growing haul – and more and more of
the compound – falling into Allied hands, the enemy
belatedly woke up and began to offer organised
resistance.
As the Taleban massed for an assault on the
commandos, 8 Troop took up position on the
northern fl ank of the compound – and waited.
When the enemy swarmed forward, hurling
grenades, spraying the terrain with bursts of
machine-gun fi re and brandishing their AK47s,
the barrels of 29 Commando Regiment RA’s
105mm cannon barked, the mortars roared, the
grenades rained down and the machine-guns
chattered. The wall of fi re brought the enemy
onslaught to a halt.
While 8 Troop parried the enemy counter-
attack, their comrades continued the trawl
through the compound.
They left the best till last: a bomb factory with
two explosives ready to set and others fi lled
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a royal marine of ‘lightning’ lima company, 42 commando, takes stock of a
turturturtu weapons cache seized during operation diesel
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016-017_NN_Mar.indd 1 19/2/09 11:10:17
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