Eyewitness
LALAGE SNOW
with the Scots Guards in Helmand
DEEP in the heart of Afghanistan's Helmand province, an area rife with Taliban activity and the very front line for the soldiers based here, daily life is nothing but eventful.
Just 500 metres away from a village compound where a military doctor was treating local farmers and villager, the sound of gunfire was heard in the distance. Communication was instantly established with the Scots Guards on the ground.
Right Flank 1st Battalion Scots Guards has been at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Arnhem, the front line of the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) operations against the Taliban in southern Helmand, since early September.
The base was built in August and overlooks an agricultural area several kilometres wide known as the Green Zone with views into the area where the Taliban had been operating. Twenty Guardsmen were patrolling the Green Zone on foot when they were surprised by Taliban forces and fired upon.
In an instant, the quiet day was shattered with soldiers taking cover, earth kicking up around them. Over the radio the attack was relayed by an officer, who described the ambush from his position in the middle of it all.
The company commander based in the forward operating base about half a mile away gave orders over the radio for fighter jet support. The fighters swooped in, and larger mortars then pounded the Taliban firing points.
The following day it was learned that a Taliban commander had been injured in the attack. However, the Guards were getting ready to do it all again; cleaning rifles, checking equipment starting again their patrols.
The action came as Afghan and Nato-forces killed more than 50 Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan.
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