‘It is Ramadan now so everyone [the Afghans] is hungry and p***** off. Afterwards the smart money is on the Afghan soldiers going AWOL and returning to the north of the country where most of them are from, especially if they are not paid. Because they are not from Helmand the locals see them as foreigners, just as they do us.’
The Taliban also achieved a morale-boosting feat when their gunmen attacked an SAS helicopter carrying UK Special Forces troops near Lashkar Gah.
This incident took place four months ago but has not been reported until now. It is referred to in the officer’s emails.
No SAS soldiers are believed to have been wounded, but the £40 million Chinook helicopter was badly damaged.
The officer wrote: ‘The SAS helicopter was brought down three miles from Lashkar Gah by heavy small-arms fire. The recovery operation was a complete cock-up. The RAF did not have a helicopter powerful enough to lift the wreckage so the Americans were called in. They used a Sea Stallion helicopter to recover the Chinook. The SAS were not impressed.’
The first British soldiers to see action in Now Zad and Musa Qala, where some 50 personnel lost their lives, and in Sangin were led by Colonel Stuart Tootal, the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (3 Para).
In May 2006, hundreds of Col Tootal’s Paras, assisted by Gurkhas and soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment, took on the Taliban in these isolated but strategically significant districts.
For several bloody months the besieged and outnumbered troops fought rearguard actions and the Paras’ stubborn defence of their ‘platoon houses’ entered British military folklore.
These districts were defended with equal courage by other British regiments and Royal Marines but by the time the last soldier marched out of Sangin, around 100 UK personnel had lost their lives there, many of them shot by snipers or blown up by deadly improvised explosive devices.
From 2010, British troops continued fighting but focused more of their resources on training the Afghans to take the lead against the Taliban.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said last night: ‘Afghan security forces have been responsible for security across Afghanistan since last summer and have proved themselves capable on many occasions.
‘We are aware of reports of heavy fighting in northern Helmand, but it would be wrong to comment further on a fluid situation.
‘In the same way as our coalition partners, UK personnel continue to conduct force protection missions in support of the ANSF while working towards the end of combat operations later this year.’