Thursday, May 7, 2009

Nottingham soldiers fight Taliban


SOLDIERS from Notts have helped push the Taliban out of one of their last strongholds in Helmand.

Last week the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police fought the Taliban in the Basharan area.

Two teams of ten men from the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiment, accompanied more than 150 warriors from the Afghan National Army (ANA).

The 2 Mercian has been in Afghanistan for around six weeks and their main role is to mentor and train the Afghan army to improve their ability to fight the insurgents on their own.

The operation was coordinated on the ground by the 2 Mercian Battlegroup headquarters.

During the week-long operation several Taliban insurgents were killed but the ANA and 2 Mercian only sustained a handful of casualties, none of which were serious.

The operation pushed the Taliban out of several villages near to the provincial capital of Helmand, Lashkar Gah.

Corporal Mathew Gilmour, from Nottingham, was on guard on the roof of a compound one night when he came under fire.

He and his colleagues, Corporal Bret Taylor, from Derby, and Capt Agnew, returned fire.
A forces spokesman said: "This was another example of the progress being made."

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