Danish troops close off the battle zone for Brit allies

Danish reconnaissance troops from the island of Bornholm checks a tunnel running under a canal. Hundreds of locals and Talibs used this tunnel every day, on foot or motorcycle, to get in and out of the Green Zone.

Danish and British commanders met frequently during Operation Ring of Steel, coordinating the course of the fight. "The British are polite people, but also we could feel the real respect for us rise as they gradually saw what our units are capable of achieving," says Danish officer


An important phase in Operation Ring of Steel was recently concluded. Platoons of Danish 2 Light Recce Squadron have been in numerous firefights with the Taliban during the past weeks. The battles have been hard fought and there have been casualties on both sides of the front. But together with British and other allies they have stood their ground, the soldiers from Bornholm, an island in the Baltic Ocean and the most eastern part of Denmark. The islanders took part in laying an iron circle around an isolated pocket of Talibs. The enemy has been clearly aggravated and annoyed with this.

A base was quickly established by the Recce Squadron. From here the Danish soldiers regularly lashed out at the Taliban.



Jakob Bjerborg, the Officer in Command of the Squadron, explains:
- We pressured the enemy to shift some of his focus to us. Because of that he had to thin out the forces facing the Brits. At the same time we disrupted his supply routes, making him run low on food, water and ammunition.
The OC points out that the enemy never knew when and where the Recce Squadron would strike.

For the full report click here

Afghan elections - an uncertain future

It was a decision that Western leaders had waited to hear for days. At the presidential palace, the Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai, finally accepted that he had failed to win an outright majority, and that this election requires a second round.

It was no coincidence that a host of ambassadors and the UN special envoy, Kai Eide, were in attendance.

The man who did most to end the political deadlock, US senator John Kerry, stood alongside President Karzai during the announcement.

The Afghan leader has been the subject of a fevered round of diplomacy, receiving phone calls from world leaders urging him to accept a second round.

President Karzai believed - and perhaps still does - that an election victory had been stolen from him.

But his position was weakened by the publication of report by a UN-backed panel on Monday, which showed that a third of the incumbent's votes were fraudulent.

That meant that President Karzai's share of the vote had dropped below the 50% mark, meaning a second round was constitutionally required.

Two option scenario?

Mr Karzai had known the report's findings since last week.

And finally on Tuesday, he caved in to the overwhelming international pressure to accept this.

What will happen next is still not clear: there appear to be two options.

The first is that President Karzai and his challenger Dr Abdullah Abdullah could agree to form a national unity government.

For the rest of the report click here for the BBC website

Afghan election goes to run-off

Afghanistan will hold a deciding round of its problem-hit presidential poll on 7 November, pitting Hamid Karzai against his rival Abdullah Abdullah.

News of the run-off vote follows weeks of mounting international pressure.

It comes a day after a UN-backed panel said it had clear evidence of fraud in August's first round, lowering Mr Karzai's vote share below 50%.

Mr Karzai told a news conference that he accepted the findings, adding they were a "step forward" for democracy.

Mr Abdullah, speaking to the BBC, also said the move would "help democracy in this country and strengthen the faith of the people in the democratic process".

Initial results suggested Mr Karzai, the incumbent, had received 55% of the vote, and ex-Foreign Minister Mr Abdullah 28%.

But the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) ordered that ballots from 210 polling stations be discounted.

This meant Mr Karzai's total was reduced to below the 50% plus one vote threshold for outright victory, indicating a second round was needed.

Since the disputed first round of polling, there has been intensive Western lobbying of Afghanistan's leaders to resolve the weeks of political paralysis.

The White House - debating a request for 40,000 more US troops to be sent to Afghanistan - warned at the weekend no more soldiers would be deployed until a political resolution was reached.

Correspondents say it was therefore not surprising to see Mr Karzai give his reaction to the run-off, at a news conference alongside UN envoy Kai Eide and US Senator John Kerry.

"This is not the right time to discuss investigations, this is the time to move forward to stability and national unity," Mr Karzai said.

"I call upon our nation to change this into an opportunity to strengthen our resolve and determination, to move our country forward and to participate in the new round of elections."

For the rest of the story click here for the BBC website

Training the Afghan Security Forces

NATO launched a new organisation that brings together all the different groups involved in training the Afghan security forces.

Soldier saved by helmet in firefight

A Cumbrian soldier owes his life to his helmet after a bullet ripped through its side and out of the back –narrowly missing his head.

Lance Corporal Ashley Irving, of Cockermouth, cheated death earlier this month while he was serving in war-torn Afghanistan.

LCpl Irving, serving with the Duke of Lancaster’s 2nd battalion, was fighting the Taliban two weeks ago in Shawqat on the roof of a derelict compound site in a fierce one and-a-half-hour battle, when a bullet shot through the left-hand side of his helmet, skimming the back of it – millimetres from his skull.

Falling to the floor from the force of the impact, the brave soldier got back to his feet after being knocked unconscious for a few seconds, worrying about the welfare of his comrades.

The severity of the incident only occurred to the committed soldier, who had celebrated his 21st birthday just 10 days earlier, when the soldier next to him said that he had been shot in the head and blood was running down his face.

“I felt the impact and everything went black. I was only out for a couple of seconds and when I came round I was facing the sky,” he told the News & Star.

“I got up and was shouting at the lads, seeing if everyone was all right. A couple of seconds later, one of the lads said that I had been shot and blood was coming down the side of my face.

“I couldn’t really see at the time. The pain wasn’t too bad, as there was that much adrenaline pumping through me I didn’t realise I had been shot. I just thought it had hit my helmet – I didn’t think that it had gone through.”

LCpl Irving got down from the roof and went into one of the compound’s rooms where he sat on the floor with his back to the wall, took his helmet off and managed to bandage his own head. Other soldiers then rushed over to help.

He then ran 600 metres down the road – wearing no helmet as it would not fit over the bandages – to waiting armoured vehicles to take him to the medical centre, five minutes away.

He was then flown by helicopter to the Army field hospital at Camp Bastion (the main UK Army base in Helmand) before being transferred to the Critical Care unit at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, where he stayed for nine days.

He suffered a fractured skull and has lost five per cent of his peripheral vision to his right eye. Speaking from his Cockermouth home, with his family around him, LCpl Irving told about his experience in Afghanistan where he had been since August 13.

His platoon were flown to Babaji – recognised as one of the most dangerous insurgent strongholds in southern Afghanistan – where they carried out foot patrols, looking for roadside bombs and securing the area. After serving five weeks in Babaji, they went to Camp Bastion - where Ashley celebrated his 21st birthday on September 23.

His company was then sent to Shawqat a week later, again checking for roadside bombs and securing the area.

Read the full story here

VIDEO: Class Dismissed in Swat Valley - nytimes.com/video

A short documentary profiling an 11-year-old Pakistani girl on the last day before the Taliban closed down her school.

Indians fight the Taliban

INDIANS are flocking to join the British Army to fight the Taliban.

They are entitled to sign up, as nationals of the Commonwealth.

Army sources say there has been a surge recently because of the threat of a Taliban victory in Afghanistan, which would have serious consequences for India’s Muslim neighbour, Pakistan.

Sharat S. Mulchandi, 18, from Karnataka, is undergoing army cadet training at home and plans to join a British infantry regiment when he flies into the UK.

Last night he said: “Pakistan is a breeding ground for terrorists, it’s dangerous for India.

“We will never forget what the fanatics did last year in Mumbai.”

Pakistan is reeling from a wave of attacks in the past 10 days, which killed 150.

The Taliban threatened violence if Pakistan’s pro-US government did not cease operations near the Afghan border.

In March there were just 80 Indian nationals in the British Army. The total is expected to rise considerably when new figures are compiled.

Almost 200 people died in 10 insurgents’ attacks on Mumbai in November 2008.

Aussie Gunners support Brits in Helmand

British troops are working with a variety of coalition partners in Helmand province, including Australian Gunners, who over the summer have been supporting 19 Light Brigade in the Upper Gereshk Valley.

The Gunners, from the 105th Medium Battery, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, have been based at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Armadillo supporting British and Danish ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) troops as well as Afghan National Security Forces.

The Aussie Gunners joined up with 19 Light Brigade in early April and in the first four months of their deployment the Australian Artillery troop engaged in 42 fire support missions and laid on numerous others, totalling 1,008 rounds fired in anger in support of Danish and British infantry units.

On a regular basis multi-national patrols were conducted to resight the field defences and ground dominating patrols by day and night were also sent out to deter and observe local support for the Taliban and identify depth firing positions used by the Taliban to engage the FOB from maximum range.

During the deployment the troop have also been involved in some large scale operations as well, including Operation PANTHER'S CLAW, designed to increase the ISAF area of influence.

For the Australian Gunners one incident in the operation stood out; a high value target was identified and engaged with high explosive rounds from the troop, 500lb (227kg) bombs from F-15 aicraft and 120mm rounds from Danish Leopard 2 tanks simultaneously.

The bombardment was then topped off when the troop fired a 60-round smoke screen to allow the tank troop to disengage from the contact.

On one occasion during their deployment, the FOB was subjected to small arms fire around the gun position from five different firing points as well as co-ordinated indirect fire (IDF). This fire included rocket-propelled grenades which detonated behind and within the walls of the FOB.

During the contact the troop received a counter-battery fire mission on the IDF point of origin given by the counter-IDF detachment. The IDF was silenced after 14 high explosive proximity rounds from the troop.

Another highlight of the tour for the Australians included the involvement in an incident which required the FOB to launch a hasty multi-national Quick Reaction Force (QRF), commanded by elements of the Aussie Troop, to assist a British Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team patrol under heavy accurate and sustained fire.

The QRF consisted of all elements from within the FOB and utilised Danish vehicles for transport and fire support.

According to the Australian Department of Defence, the deployment has been an extremely rewarding and humbling experience for the 'Diggers', as the Australian Gunners are colloquially known.

RAF crews return from Afghanistan

Tornado crews from RAF Lossiemouth have returned home after four-and-a-half months in Afghanistan.

The Moray base's 12 (Bomber) Squadron has been based at Kandahar, in temperatures of more than 45C.

The air crew and ground crew left RAF Lossiemouth on 14 June and helped during the Afghan elections, as well as operating in Helmand Province.

SNP MP Angus Robertson said there would be a "great deal of relief" that they completed the tour safe and well.