Pat Dollard

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The Telegraph:

Around 800 soldiers of the Light Dragoons and Mercian Regiment are driving north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah in the third wave of Operation Panchai Palang, or Panther’s Claw.

The operation has been described as the most strategically important yet mounted by the British, who have fought to stalemate with the Islamist insurgents in the past three years.

British forces hope to secure the volatile region between Lashkar Gah and Gereshk, a nearby commercial hub, in time for next month’s presidential elections.

The assault began two weeks ago with the helicopter-borne Black Watch seizing three crossings on the Nahr-e-Burgha canal and setting up checkpoints.

As the Welsh Guards then followed up to take 13 crossings on the Shamalan waterway, they encountered tough fighting in sweltering conditions a statement said.

“The units have encountered some enemy activity and have been engaged in some prolonged fire-fights with the enemy sometimes lasting several hours. On occasions they have been involved at close quarters.”

Lt Col Nick Richardson, a spokesman for the British troops, added: “It wasn’t hand-to-hand fighting, but they came quite close on occasions during ambushes. If we take the battle to them, we will get up close.”

The biggest threat remained roadside bombs and boobytraps. Bomb disposal officers have found more than 100 devices since the offensive began.

Lt Col Rupert Thorneloe, commanding officer of the Welsh Guards, and Trooper Joshua Hammond of 2nd Royal Tank Regiment died during the operation when their vehicle hit a bomb.

Taliban fighters have said they will not stand and fight against the assault, or a similar push by United States Marines in the lower Helmand River valley, but will wear down the British in a war of attrition.

A statement on a Taliban propaganda website said: “The Helmand Mujaheddin say that they are using tactical and guerrilla warfare principles in confronting the enemy offensive in order to engage and exhaust the enemy in a long war of attrition.

“For this reason, the Mujaheddin, instead of frontal resistance, have resorted to the effective tactics of hit and run and roadside mines which have produced satisfactory results so far.”

The British operation is likely to continue for several days. Lt Col Richardson said: “Whilst maintaining the integrity of the ongoing operation, I think it’s safe to say that we have made significant progress so far.”

Times Online:

Two soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan while taking part in Operation Panther’s Claw, one of the biggest offensives against the Taleban ever launched by British troops in Helmand province.

Their deaths on Saturday followed the announcement that Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, the commanding officer of the Welsh Guards, and Trooper Joshua Hammond of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment were killed on Wednesday when their Viking armoured vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb.

In the latest incident, a soldier from The Light Dragoons was killed by an explosion while he was on foot, and in a separate incident, a soldier from the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment died when he was hit during a rocket-propelled grenade attack against his armoured reconnaissance vehicle. Vikings were not involved in either of these incidents.

The Light Dragoon battle group which is now based at Camp Bastion in central Helmand, after being withdrawn from Garmsir in the south, is engaged in a “clearing” operation against the Taleban in the volatile town of Babaji which is five miles north of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, and south of Gereshk.

Soldiers from 2 Mercian are serving in the battle group. The Light Dragoons moved up to Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, when 4,000 US Marines took over their previous operating area in Garmsir.

The deaths of the two soldiers brought the total number of British fatalities in Afghanistan to 173.

This year has also seen one of the highest number of deaths recorded in the first six months since the operation in Helmand began in 2006. Thirty-six soldiers and Royal Marines have been killed so far this year.

Lieutenant-Colonel Nick Richardson, spokesman for the British Task Force in Helmand, said: “The loss of these soldiers and colleagues has come as a huge blow to us all.” Next of kin have been informed.