thedrifter
05-05-07, 07:44 AM
Paratroopers narrow in on Taliban in Ghazni
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday May 5, 2007 6:59:08 EDT
GHAZNI, Afghanistan – U.S. paratroopers killed three Taliban fighters, including a suspected low-level commander, and captured another during a five-day mission this week in southern Afghanistan’s Ghazni province.
The mission, involving about 150 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne’s 2-508 Battalion and soldiers from the Afghan National Army, was intended to flush Taliban fighters out of several villages in Ghazni’s volatile Andar district.
Battalion leaders at Forward Operating Base Ghazni suspect hundreds of Taliban may be hiding in Andar and attempting to use the district as a local base of operations. The Taliban had closed down schools and imposed curfews in the villages.
Though the mission only netted four suspected hostile fighters, both the rank-and-file and battalion leaders said they considered it a success.
“A lot of it is we really wanted to show a presence in the area to keep the Taliban out of there,” said Senior Airman Eric Souder, an Air Force joint tactical air controller attached to the battalion. “By the time we left, our intelligence was that there was no Taliban left in the area, and we weren’t taking fire even moving around in squad-sized elements.”
One battalion leader, who spoke on condition that his name not be disclosed, said Andar district is the key to controlling the route between Kandahar and Kabul, Afghanistan’s two largest cities.
Soldiers killed the three Taliban fighters on April 29, the first full day of the mission.
A scout platoon — including snipers and two Air Force air controllers — and elements from two companies had inserted the night before. The scout platoon established an observation post at an abandoned school north of the village of Ebrahim Kheyl, and elements from B Company staged to the west of the village.
At first light, paratroopers from B Company and Afghan soldiers entered the village and began searching homes for suspected Taliban.
The scouts were waiting at the observation post for any Taliban who might try to flee.
“We were providing overwatch-slash-ambush positions as Bravo company swept through,” Souder said.
A short time later, the scouts at the observation post to the north saw seven Taliban fleeing the village on five motorcycles. Souder said the scouts were able to positively identify the men as Taliban because they were carrying AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades.
Snipers with the scout platoon shot and killed two of the fighters from a distance of about 550 meters, and the other five escaped on their motorcycles after briefly returning fire.
A few minutes later, a man on a bicycle approached the bodies of the killed fighters and picked up one of their weapons. After firing a warning shot at the man, a sniper shot and killed him.
Souder called in and received air support from two A-10s in the area, but they were unable to locate the five fighters who had fled.
U.S. soldiers who arrived at the scene after the action found three AK47s, four fragmentation grenades and seven RPGs, three of which were armor-piercing.
One of the dead was carrying a cell phone with phone numbers that indicated he was a low-level Taliban commander.
Soldiers spent the rest of the mission, which concluded May 3, performing similar operations at other surrounding villages. There were no U.S. or Afghan National Army casualties.
The mission was part of a monthlong series of operations intended to clear the Taliban out of Andar district and deny them use of the area.
Ellie
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday May 5, 2007 6:59:08 EDT
GHAZNI, Afghanistan – U.S. paratroopers killed three Taliban fighters, including a suspected low-level commander, and captured another during a five-day mission this week in southern Afghanistan’s Ghazni province.
The mission, involving about 150 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne’s 2-508 Battalion and soldiers from the Afghan National Army, was intended to flush Taliban fighters out of several villages in Ghazni’s volatile Andar district.
Battalion leaders at Forward Operating Base Ghazni suspect hundreds of Taliban may be hiding in Andar and attempting to use the district as a local base of operations. The Taliban had closed down schools and imposed curfews in the villages.
Though the mission only netted four suspected hostile fighters, both the rank-and-file and battalion leaders said they considered it a success.
“A lot of it is we really wanted to show a presence in the area to keep the Taliban out of there,” said Senior Airman Eric Souder, an Air Force joint tactical air controller attached to the battalion. “By the time we left, our intelligence was that there was no Taliban left in the area, and we weren’t taking fire even moving around in squad-sized elements.”
One battalion leader, who spoke on condition that his name not be disclosed, said Andar district is the key to controlling the route between Kandahar and Kabul, Afghanistan’s two largest cities.
Soldiers killed the three Taliban fighters on April 29, the first full day of the mission.
A scout platoon — including snipers and two Air Force air controllers — and elements from two companies had inserted the night before. The scout platoon established an observation post at an abandoned school north of the village of Ebrahim Kheyl, and elements from B Company staged to the west of the village.
At first light, paratroopers from B Company and Afghan soldiers entered the village and began searching homes for suspected Taliban.
The scouts were waiting at the observation post for any Taliban who might try to flee.
“We were providing overwatch-slash-ambush positions as Bravo company swept through,” Souder said.
A short time later, the scouts at the observation post to the north saw seven Taliban fleeing the village on five motorcycles. Souder said the scouts were able to positively identify the men as Taliban because they were carrying AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades.
Snipers with the scout platoon shot and killed two of the fighters from a distance of about 550 meters, and the other five escaped on their motorcycles after briefly returning fire.
A few minutes later, a man on a bicycle approached the bodies of the killed fighters and picked up one of their weapons. After firing a warning shot at the man, a sniper shot and killed him.
Souder called in and received air support from two A-10s in the area, but they were unable to locate the five fighters who had fled.
U.S. soldiers who arrived at the scene after the action found three AK47s, four fragmentation grenades and seven RPGs, three of which were armor-piercing.
One of the dead was carrying a cell phone with phone numbers that indicated he was a low-level Taliban commander.
Soldiers spent the rest of the mission, which concluded May 3, performing similar operations at other surrounding villages. There were no U.S. or Afghan National Army casualties.
The mission was part of a monthlong series of operations intended to clear the Taliban out of Andar district and deny them use of the area.
Ellie