In Afghanistan: The Staffords take fight to the insurgents

Sentinel reporter Phil Corrigan and photographer Steve Bould report on the work of the Mercian Regiment (Staffords) who are on the frontline in Afghanistan. Today's coverage follows the soldiers of the Staffords' C-Company who believe they are winning the fight against insurgency

FOR the last three months the Staffords' C Company has been battling the insurgency in and around Khar Nikah in the Upper Gereshk Valley.

Khar Nikah lies within the so-called "green zone", an area where the dusty desert suddenly transforms into irrigated farmland, with the border between the two as sharp as a line on a map.

The Staffords' forward operating base is surrounded by a number of patrol bases, checkpoints and observation posts, protecting a security bubble.

The Upper Gereshk Valley is a key recruiting ground for the insurgents, who are more than willing to launch attacks on the British positions.

Lcpl Matthew Armstrong, from Biddulph, experienced one of these attacks, while stationed at PB Bahadur, to the north of Khar Nikah.

The 26-year-old, pictured right, said: "On the third night we were at PB Bahadur, just last Saturday, we were contacted from four firing points along this place called Murder Wall. That meant there was probably eight to 10 insurgents.

"We used machine guns to pin them down on the wall, and the two American F18s also fired on them.

"Two of the insurgents were killed, and we definitely wounded one as well."

Another outpost, PB Pasab, lies within an area recently taken from the Taliban.

On July 3 the base was attacked by small arms fire for the first time, and then the next day it came under a sustained assault, involving a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) strike and shooting from three positions. But nobody within the base was hurt, and the assault was eventually resisted.

While these attacks remind everyone of the dangers facing C Coy, the soldiers believe they are making progress.

Although the company has lost one man, Private Gareth Bellingham, the number of attacks on British soldiers in the area is falling.

The Irish Guards, who preceded the Staffords at Khar Nikah, experienced 292 significant acts (sigacts) in their six month tour.

Since April, the Staffords have had just 38 sigacts, including 28 small arms fire incidents, nine RPG attacks and one suicide attack.

Maj Alex McKay, the officer in charge of C Coy, said: "This has been a massive drop. The Irish Guards were getting two sigacts a day. Most of the ones we've had have been caused by us, going to the insurgents."

Maj McKay said the Staffords had regularly pushed out beyond the security bubble and brought the fight to the insurgents.

He added: "We get out amongst it. We've mounted 10 to 15 operations beyond the safer area, getting among the insurgents, and causing them some damage.

"The local nationals love it. When we came back from one operation they were waiting for us with a reception party, clapping and cheering, and complaining that we hadn't taken them with us."

A recent operation, Qimat 6, resulted in the seizure of 35 IED pressure plates, eight rifles, as well as RPGs and other weapons.

Maj McKay said a lot of the company's success was down to the relationship built up with the local Afghans, who currently identify 90 per cent of the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) found in the area.

Lcpl Armstrong is one of the few Staffords who has been in Afghanistan before, having served with 59 Commando in 2006. He said the improved relationship with the locals was one of the most noticeable differences this time around.

The 26-year-old added: "It's very different now. The people here want to help us now. They come to us and help identify IEDs. They want to interact with us.

"I think a lot of reports in newspapers don't really look at these things. They just concentrate on the Afghans fighting us, the injuries and the casualties. People don't really hear about the other side of the country."

Maj McKay explained that another popular misconception was the reason for the insurgency in the Upper Gereshk Valley.

Poppy fields abound in the area, and Maj McKay believes it is the drugs gangs controlling them, rather than religious zealots, who are the real enemy.

He added: "What may have started as a religious insurgency, is now just an economic one. Religion is just being used as an excuse by the narco-criminals, who are making incredible amounts of money. Many of the locals have no respect for this, as it is an abuse of Islam."