Media Room: Media Releases

AFGHAN AND AUSTRALIAN FORCES OFFER NO LET-UP AGAINST TALIBAN INSURGENTS

The Commanding Officer of the first Australian Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF – 1), Lieutenant Colonel Shane Gabriel, has praised the growing capability of Afghan soldiers following the successful completion of a combined Afghan-Australian cordon-and-search operation.

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel said the Afghan and Australian forces recently completed ‘Operation Zamarai Lor’ (Tiger Scythe) in the Miribad region of Oruzgan Province, to the east of the MRTF’s main base at Tarin Kowt.

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel praised soldiers from the 2nd Kandak of the Afghan National Army’s (ANA) 4^th Brigade, who are being mentored and supported by Australia’s Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT).

“It was very good to see just how well the ANA responded to the work that has been done with them by their mentors.  They took great heart having a platoon of Australian soldiers from the Combat Team fighting there alongside them,” Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel said.

Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel said he was pleased with the way that the Afghan soldiers had taken the fight to the Taliban insurgents, moving forward through difficult terrain against a dangerous adversary who used rocket propelled grenades (RPG), machine gun fire and other weapons.

The four-day mission centred on cordon-and-search operations within the Sorkh Lez village.

“I don’t think you could ask for a much better measure of success than to move into an area and demonstrate to the local people that the Afghan National Army is here to secure the location.”

This latest operation pushed insurgents back further, with the ANA and MRTF – 1 soldiers discovering a small cache of weapons on the first day, before the insurgents attacked with multiple engagements occurring during the conduct of the operation.

“From the first day they came at us with some strength.  What resulted over the next two days were quite lengthy contacts, where we had a number of engagements with the insurgents,” Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel said.

The first contact of the operation began with a number of RPG rounds being fired from a distance at the combined Afghan and Australian patrols.  Insurgents then continued the attack using small arms fire.

The Afghan and Australian soldiers returned to the village to continue searching for a second day and found it largely deserted. Shortly after midday, the insurgents again attacked the patrol with RPG and small arms fire from close range.  The combined Afghan-Australian forces manoeuvred and engaged the enemy with ANA and OMLT elements fighting side by side.

The combined Afghan-Australian force continued to be engaged with small arms, machine gun fire and RPGs, as the insurgents attacked from multiple positions.

Adding to the difficulty of the conditions was the extreme heat of the Afghan summer, which saw the battle being fought as temperature climbed to near 40°C.

No Australians were wounded during these contacts.  One ANA soldier received a minor wound, however was able to continue on with the mission.

“What I take away as the most encouraging and positive observation from this operation was the great work done by the Afghan National Army Company.

“I see this contact as a key indicator of the success we have had in our mentoring mission.  When we started this mission, the Kandak which we were assigned was at an early stage of development, and here we are now, almost eight months later, successfully conducting complex company-level operations, taking the fight directly to the enemy and being very successful.”

Media note:

Still imagery is available at http://www.defence.gov.au/opEx/global/opslipper/images/gallery/2009/0615/index.htm.

Audio grabs are available at http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/audio/2009/Jun/index.htm.

Media contact: Defence Media Liaison: 02 6265 3343 or 0408 498 664