May 15, 2011
“OP Minimise" has just been called,” our Warthog
commander informed us as we approached our home from home for the next four
days in Nahr-e Saraj.
“Not sure what it’s all about, but obviously something
quite serious has happened.”
Now for those that don’t know, ‘Op Minimise’ is
called when there has been a serious injury or death in-theatre.
It basically
results in the blackout of communications across the entire country so
information about the incident does not leak out before family members are
told.
Hearing the announcement is something, which the servicemen and women
dread, because it ultimately means something tragic has happened.
Within
minutes of arriving at the Forward Operating Base Khar Nikah, in the upper
Gereshk Valley, we find out that a grenade attack on a patrol just a few
kilometres from us is the reason Op Minimise has been called.
If we weren’t feeling
anxious about the forthcoming ‘insurgent disruption’ operation with the Royal
Scots Dragoon Guards and 3 Mercian, we are now.
No sooner do we arrive we’re
informed of how the next few days will unfold.
Day one of the three-day
operation (Operation Tufan Alutaka) in the desert is designed to provide a
‘show of force’ and revolves around destroying a Taliban bridge near Zumbelay,
which insurgents use to transport weapons to target British forces.
Day two
will see the SCOTS DG (in their Warthog vehicles) provide security in the form
of Vehicle Check Points in the desert to allow a shura to take place back at
FOB Khar Nikah.
And day three sees us go into the “hornet's nest” as one officer
puts it, targeting an area known as a Taliban hotspot which, bizarrely, is just
500 metres from the FOB.
So with three days of dangerous events in mind, sleep
is impossible – even more so in fact because there is no room on camp for us so
we are assigned the plywood and corrugated iron ‘Taliban detention centre’ as
our bedroom.
And then we’re told the operation begins at 3am and we need to be
up and at ‘em by 2.15am.
Within what seems like minutes we are standing by for
the off and awaiting instructions by the Warthogs.
Despite the fact it is the
dead of night, the clear sky with bright moon and shooting stars, provides
ample light as we prepare for the unknown.
Crammed into the back of the Warthog
we set off.
We soon realise we could be anywhere given that we have no window
to look out of.
There is some comfort in the fact that this is a surprise
offensive from the British forces and no one should be expecting our
presence.
Some of the lads disembark from the Warthog and radio their positions
and views in.
Reports suggest a man is preparing to lay an IED along a
route.
Why else would someone be up at this hour carrying a backpack I
ponder?
Despite the risk, the threat comes to nothing.
Time seems to fly by and
by 4am, peering out of the slightly ajar back door, there is enough light to
work out our surroundings.
By sunrise the local Afghan farmers are already
harvesting the poppy in their vast fields.
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| Farmers at work at sunrise in their poppy fields |
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| A field of poppies |
They look at us with some confusion,
but it still doesn’t deter them from their job.
Several more hours pass and the
heat of the sun, even at 8am is quite remarkable.
By 8.15am the charges have
been laid on the bridge and the lads are ready to detonate the 36kgs of high
explosive.
If the insurgents weren’t aware of our presence they soon would
be.
A recorded message in Pashtu is played out across the desert plains on a
loud speaker warning of the imminent explosion, and then the detonation takes
place, blasting tonnes of sand into the air.
 |
| Bridge over troubled waters |
 |
| No more bridge over troubled waters |
The detonation signals a
successful mission and, despite concerns over an immediate response from the
insurgents, nothing occurs.
We return to the FOB safe in the knowledge we are
unscathed.
Later in the day, tired and weary due to the searing heat and lack
of sleep, we are sitting chatting with the lads when a warning of an “imminent
insurgent attack” circulates the camp.
The warning is of mortar barrels and
rockets being brought up to our location to target the camp and the patrol
bases around us.
We’re told it is the first ‘dress state red’ (meaning everyone
dons full body armour when they are outside buildings – which are few and far
between on camp) ordered in months.
Again, sleep will not be easy tonight.
We
awake the next morning relieved no attack took place in the night.
The guys
were fully expecting a retaliation attack after they blew up the bridge.
Day two of the operation is already well under by 7am and we are in position close to where the bridge once stretched over the Nes canal.
The Warthog Group, which
we are accompanying, is carrying out a Vehicle Check Point, which is ultimately
providing security for a major shura, which is taking place back at camp with
‘key’ Afghan elders.
 |
| Overwatch |
 |
| A Gereshk petrol station |
 |
| Keeping an eye out for trouble |
The vast majority of those stopped and searched are
pleasant and understand the procedure.
Some ask why the bridge was destroyed,
but on explanation, they seem to understand.
Especially as the insurgents will now
reportedly have to walk 15 kilometres to gain the same access.
The soldiers
greet everyone from motorcyclists, car and van drivers and farmers on
tractors.
Some of the scenes make the Wacky Races cartoon seem like real
life.
One van rocks up with no less than 12 people onboard – both inside and on
the roof.
 |
| Afghan public transport |
However atmospherics at the VCP quickly change when one of the
interpreters informs the soldiers that a motorcyclist – who was just stopped
and searched – told him he had been shot at by the occupants of a white Toyota
Corolla the previous day.
Everyone is fairly twitchy. But when the Afghan
driver gets out of the car, full of smiles and with his hands in the air, the
heightened tensions lift.
By 10.30am further reports suggest we are, in fact,
being watched by insurgents who are preparing an attack.
Any relaxed mood
disappears and we are shepherded into the back of the Warthog again for
safety.
Soon enough though we are on our way back to base – and our detention
centre – having successfully completed day two of the op.
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| Our Warthog vehicle |
As far as we are
aware day three is relatively peaceful, stable and secure compared to the
previous days.
We spend much of the day in the back of the Warthog for
safety.
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| From the inside looking out |
What we are later told is that we were in affect “kicking the hornet’s
nest” by placing ourselves in the middle of a suspected Taliban area –
bizarrely just 500 metres from our base.
In retrospect I think some things are
just better left unsaid.
With that – the final day – of the operation complete,
we make our way back to Camp Bastion safe in the knowledge we understand more
about life on the ground and indeed the risks our brave lads (and lasses)
take.
I know that elements of this blog may upset and concern people (namely my
mum) but I’d rather accurately record the facts so as to paint a real picture
of what the guys do here.
They’re the real heroes who are out in the middle of
nowhere who rarely get the headlines others get.
Twitter: @tristan_nichols
