Scottish soldiers were involved in “extraordinary” and “exhilarating” action as they spearheaded the most bloody operation since British forces were sent to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Details of the assault led by the Black Watch emerged as the Ministry of Defence confirmed two more troops had been killed in separate explosions, taking the UK death toll to 22 this month alone.
Some 350 members of the 3rd Battalion (Black Watch) Royal Regiment of Scotland were at the forefront of Operation Panther’s Claw, which began with a daring air attack on a Taliban drugs bazaar.
The bitterly-fought, five-week mission to recapture an area of Helmand province roughly the size of Orkney was hailed a success by senior British officers last night.
But the effort to drive the Taliban out of its former stronghold has now cost of the lives of 10 of the 3,000-strong British force and resulted in a significant number of serious casualties.
One Black Watch soldier, Private Robert McLaren, 20, of Mull, died when a roadside bomb went off, and at least two others were seriously wounded during the operation near the province’s economic capital of Gereshk, home to 80,000 Afghans.
On Saturday, Bombardier Craig Hopson, 24, of the 40th Regiment Royal Artillery (Lowland Gunners) died on patrol with the battalion. He came from Yorkshire.
Black Watch Corporal Sean Binnie, of Aberdeen, was killed in May.
Black Watch commanding officer in Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Cartwright, said: “It has been an immense operation – emotionally and physically exhausting but exhilarating.”
He added: “I am certain that everyone in the battle group will look back in a few years to an extraordinary operation when we did our jobs in the most demanding environment.”
The battalion, which recruits from Tayside, Angus and Fife, is based at Fort George near Inverness. It is due to return in October.
Lt Col Cartwright revealed their role in Operation Panther’s Claw last night.
Aware that the Taliban had planted roadside bombs, the 350 Black Watch troops were flown in on a single wave of 10 Chinook helicopters in the early hours of June 20.
They occupied defensive positions by first light and the Royal Engineers then built a wall to control the population and to prevent insurgents escaping north. It was quickly nicknamed “Hadrian’s Wall”.
The final phase of the operation started in the early hours of July 20 with a co-ordinated push by the Black Watch and the 2nd Battalion the Welsh Guards.
The troops encountered relatively little resistance.
“It seemed apt that, having been involved at the very start of the British strike in Babaji, we should be allowed to take part in its finale,” said Lt Col Cartwright.
“Once again, we were given enough Chinooks to lift the aviation element of the battle group in a single wave. As with our first battle group operation, the key lay in surprising the insurgents.”
Troops of the Light Dragoons battle group serving with the Black Watch found 55 dug-in improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and came under attack 53 times from small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. British forces encountered a total of 153 IEDs during an operation in sweltering temperatures.
Major Ronnie Proctor, of the Black Watch Association, said: “We are full of admiration for the young men and women out in Afghanistan doing a very dangerous job.”
Brigadier Tim Radford, the senior British commander in Helmand, said it had been a “very, very hard fight” with an estimated 450-500 Taliban.
Brig Radford said: “We know there have been significant casualties. There will be many Taliban who will not be fighting any more.
“We know from reports it has affected their capability significantly, and it has also disrupted them. More importantly, it has affected their morale significantly.”
Some Taliban were detain-ed but others escaped disguised in women’s burkhas.
Brig Radford said only three civilian casualties were reported, thanks to efforts to warn the local population to leave the area.
Altogether, 22 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this month as operations were stepped up in the run-up to the Afghan presidential and provincial elections on August 20.
The deaths yesterday involved a soldier from the Light Dragoons, who was killed in an explosion while on a vehicle patrol, shortly after the end of Operation Panther’s Claw, in Helmand’s Lashkar Gah district.
A soldier from 5th Regiment Royal Artillery was killed on a foot patrol in Sangin district, Helmand.
Moray MP Angus Robertson, SNP defence spokesman, said: “Military action is just not enough. We need a political solution which should involve speaking to insurgents and offering them alternatives to fighting.
“The awful toll of military personnel killed in Afghan-istan has understandably led to questions about just what our forces are fighting for.”
A ComRes poll claims 52% of the public believes the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable and British troops should be pulled out immediately.
Nearly two-to-one believe the Taliban cannot be defeated militarily, and three-to-one believe British troops lack the equipment to perform their role safely.