Afghan And Australian Forces Offer No Let-up Against Taliban Insurgents

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15th June 2009, 12:08pm - Views: 730





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DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE



Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT

Phone: 02 6265 3343, Fax: 02 62656946



MSPA 190/09

Monday, 15 June 2009


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) 4th 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.

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DEFENCE MEDIA RELEASE



Issued by Ministerial Support and Public Affairs, Department of Defence, Canberra, ACT

Phone: 02 6265 3343, Fax: 02 62656946


Media Releases are available via e-mail if you register at www.defence.gov.au/media


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 www.defence.gov.au/media/download.

Vision will be distributed to the Federal Press Gallery later this morning.



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






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