Tag Archives: Helmand
The sitting ducks of Helmand
The Sunday Times Tactics used by the Taliban to cut supply routes in Helmand have forced the army to change the way it maintains its remote bases. Taliban mines block the only main road that connects the British bases, pushing the supply line out into the desert where it is vulnerable to ambushes and minefields. […]
Blood, bombs and boys’ talk
The Sunday Times Magazine The blast tore through Sapper Matthew Weston’s body as he searched the mud compound for mines. The rifle he was carrying sliced off his hand, leaving it dangling by a thread of skin. Both his legs were blown off and he could feel the blood gushing from his two remaining stumps […]
His last lonely walk
The Sunday Times Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid sounded uncharacteristically strained as his tearful words crackled over the telephone line from Afghanistan. Exhausted after another gruelling four-day operation defusing bombs in one of Helmand’s most dangerous districts, he told his wife, Christina: “I’m hanging out, hun. Can you come and get me, babe?” The next day […]
Carnage in the Devil’s Playground
The Sunday Times, Wishtan, Sangin THE first explosion that tore through the alleyway flung an 18-year-old soldier into the air, killing him instantly. As the dust cleared, troops racing towards the body of Private Johnathon Young came to an abrupt halt: one improvised explosive device (IED) after another lay in their path. It was Sergeant […]
Taliban ‘daisy chain’ kingpin captured in Afghanistan dawn raid
The Sunday Times The two point men failed to spot the booby trap hidden beneath the water as they waded along an irrigation canal. Then the shouting started. “Get the f*** back now. We’ve gone over a tripwire,” bellowed Sergeant Lee Slater, the 17-stone section commander as he turned and splashed back towards the rest […]
Miles Amoore 