Bravest of the brave: Soldiers in Helmand offer themselves as targets to flush out Taliban sniper
In an extraordinary show of courage, British soldiers are making themselves deliberate targets to flush out a Taliban sniper who is terrorising a base in Helmand.
Two snipers have killed two soldiers and injured six more over the past four months at the outpost in Qadrat. One marksman has been killed but the second is still resisting attempts to trap him.
Now, soldiers from the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment are volunteering to present themselves as targets.
In the line of fire: Lieut Jamie MacDonald, the 24-year-old commander of the dangerous Qadrat outpost in Helmand
Lieut Jamie MacDonald, 24, the commander of the base, has himself set up vehicle check points to try and draw out the sniper.
He said he would not expose his men to a danger he would not face himself: He told The Daily Telegraph: 'I've done it a couple of times. I don't ever sit still, I just keep moving.'
Lieut MacDonald said that the sniper currently opens fire on every patrol heading north. The lieutenant has twice come close to being shot when rounds have narrowly missed his head or body. Soldiers have returned to base with bullet holes in their armour and backpacks.
Target: Soldiers in Qadrat base in Helmand are being terrorised by a lone Taliban marksman. Members of the Sniper Platoon have been brought in to help (file photo)
The sniper killed two soldiers, Privates Conrad Lewis and Lewis Hendry, last month with single shots. Now, members of the Sniper Platoon have been brought in.
A 30-year-old sniper corporal, who cannot be named, said: 'It's a waiting game. We will see who's more patient but for him it's one person against the British Army.'
Explaining the way the sniper operates, soldiers said he is generally helped by a group of youths, who will take his weapons to a hideout and then carry out a scouting operation, giving the marksman information on troop movements. The sniper will leave his weapons and escape as soon as he has taken a shot or two.
Earlier this year a Para spotted one of the snipers and returned fire. The marksman escaped on a motorcycle but was hit by a Hellfire missile a mile away.
Qadrat is considered to be the most dangerous post in Helmand with the highest number of gunshot wounds per soldier.
In another development the Ministry of Defence said that British bomb disposal experts have carried out their largest clearance of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in Afghanistan.
An 80-strong team cleared a 'ghost town', as well as miles of tracks and alleyways.
During the eight-day fingertip search of Char Coucha in Helmand the team diffused nine bombs and discovered nine ordnance caches.
The village has been the scene of intense fighting between coalition forces and the Taliban over the past year.
But more than 40 families have returned since the joint operation by 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, the British Counter-IED Task Force, and the Afghan National Security Forces, the MoD said.
Officer Commanding 2 Para, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Harrison, said: 'When 2 Para arrived here in October, Char Coucha was a deserted ghost town. Thanks to the courage of my men and the counter-IED specialists, children are now playing in its streets and families returning.
'Every day, more people re-occupy their compounds. This "phoenix village" is becoming a living memorial to those who fell fighting the scourge of the Taliban in its compounds and streets. It is an amazing story.'
No comments:
Post a Comment