Jan. 05., 2012. - ISAF Joint Command Morning Operational Update

KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan and coalition security force conducted an operation in search for a Taliban leader in Mazar-e Sharif district, Balkh province, today.

The leader was found armed and displaying hostile intent. The security force responded to the immediate threat, engaged and killed the insurgent leader.

The leader was responsible for the logistical and financial support of insurgent fighters throughout Nahrin district. Additionally, he led a recent ambush attack against Afghan forces and buried roadside bombs throughout Baghlan.

No civilians were injured during the operation.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

South
A combined Afghan and coalition security force discovered a drug cache while conducting a routine patrol in Panjwa‘i district, Kandahar province, yesterday. The cache consisted of approximately 5,500 pounds (2,500 kilograms) of marijuana. Security forces destroyed all drugs on site without incident.

In Zharay district, Kandahar province, a coalition security force discovered a weapons cache during a routine patrol yesterday. The cache consisted of seven mines, eight 82 mm recoilless rifle rounds, one heavy machine gun and several improvised explosive device components. All of the weapons were confiscated from the scene to be destroyed at a later date.

A combined Afghan and coalition security force discovered a drug cache during a routine patrol in Reg-e Khan Neshin district, Helmand province, yesterday. The cache consisted of approximately 500 pounds (227 kilograms) of marijuana seeds. The cache was destroyed at the scene without incident.

In Musa Qal’ah district, Helmand province, a coalition security force discovered a weapons cache during a routine patrol yesterday. The cache consisted of 40 electronic IED components, 15 five-gallon containers of homemade explosives, multiple artillery rounds, and detonation cord. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the cache on site without incident.

Read More

Bulletproof balls deliver fuel to front line

The Air Portable Fuel Containers Mk 5 are enormous rubber balls which enable essential fuel supplies to be delivered by air to more remote areas of operations.
The balloon-like containers, which hold up to two tonnes of fuel each, also contain the polymer Kevlar, a flexible plastic commonly used in body armour, to keep the contents protected from enemy fire.

An Equipment and Logistics news article

4 Jan 12

Giant sacks, specially designed to transport fuel by air to the front line, have been delivered to troops in Afghanistan.

The Air Portable Fuel Containers Mk 5 are enormous rubber balls which enable essential fuel supplies to be delivered by air to more remote areas of operations.
The balloon-like containers, which hold up to two tonnes of fuel each, also contain the polymer Kevlar, a flexible plastic commonly used in body armour, to keep the contents protected from enemy fire.
Measuring 4.5 feet (1.37m) in diameter when full, the Mk 5 containers can be easily transported in a sling under a helicopter or in the back of a transport aircraft. The Kevlar protection means they can also be parachuted into locations or dropped from heights of up to 25 feet (7.62m).
It means that personnel stationed at forward operating bases or check points - who rely on fuel to power the generators which provide them with heat, light, medical facilities and communications equipment - do not have to wait as long as they would for the vital supplies to be transported by road.

Flight Lieutenant John Harrison, Tactical Supply Wing Detachment commander at Camp Bastion, Helmand province, said:

"The Mk 5's give the TSW great flexibility and are a key enabler in delivering battlefield helicopters with essential fuel whilst operating at or near front line operations.
"They are extremely robust and have the capability to be airlifted full of fuel and deposited wherever they are needed, usually in extremely austere locations.
"This allows the battlefield helicopter to extend its reach from Camp Bastion and spend longer at the front line to deliver valuable support to ground troops. They are relatively maintenance-free and easy to operate, making them an essential bit of equipment."

Richard Holloway, Battlefield Utilities Project Team Leader for MOD's Defence Equipment and Support, which secured the delivery of the containers, said:

"These containers provide an effective, safe and quick means of delivering fuel to the front line, ensuring essential support to operations."

Designed and built in the UK, the containers have been bought under a £2m, five-year agreement with GKN Aerospace, based in Portsmouth.

Phil Swash, President and CEO, Aerostructures Europe, GKN Aerospace, said:

"The real contribution this equipment makes to the effective functioning of our troops working in remote and forward bases is something this team and the whole site is extremely proud of."

Related articles

• Bulletproof balls deliver fuel to front line (waronterrornews.typepad.com)

Read More

Afghan police arrest 2 British citizens in Kabul

According to Afghan security officials, Afghan security officials have launched investigations from the two detained British nationals and two Afghans who were detained in connection to arms smuggle on Tuesday.

A commander for 101 Asmaie Zone security commandment said, the two Britons and two Afghans were detained along with 30 weapons and ammunitions near the Kabul customs house on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the 101 Asmaie Zone Security commandment said, the main motive behind the transportation of the arms by detained individuals is still unclear and Afghan security officials have launched a probe to find out the purpose and destination of arms smuggle.

In the meantime United Kingdom embassy in Kabul confirmed the arrest of the two Britons by Afghan security forces.

Weapons confiscated from two British citizens along with their two Afghan friends in Kabul photo by MOI

Read More

Marine Returns to Corps After 21 Years

KAJAKI SOFLA, Afghanistan – He can be found in the early mornings, rousing exhausted twenty year-olds from the rack with a mug of steaming coffee in hand, or come evening, shrouded in a veil of cigar smoke, reclining in a leather armchair within a plank and plywood shack of his own construction.
In the corner of the shanty, a rusty and once derelict oven has been put to good use, and the fire smoldering inside never seems to go out, which is something that can be said of Sgt. Randy King, a platoon guide with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, who serves alongside the Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, at Forward Operating Base White House near Kajaki Sofla.



From the Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division
Story and photos by Cpl. James Clark

KAJAKI SOFLA, Afghanistan – He can be found in the early mornings, rousing exhausted twenty year-olds from the rack with a mug of steaming coffee in hand, or come evening, shrouded in a veil of cigar smoke, reclining in a leather armchair within a plank and plywood shack of his own construction.
In the corner of the shanty, a rusty and once derelict oven has been put to good use, and the fire smoldering inside never seems to go out, which is something that can be said of Sgt. Randy King, a platoon guide with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, who serves alongside the Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, at Forward Operating Base White House near Kajaki Sofla.
At first glance, he appears weathered and hard-bitten, but within seconds a smile flashes across his face, followed shortly by a gruff, but full-bellied laugh and his eyes look back with both wisdom and benevolence.
The 50-year-old sergeant from Ashville, N.C., walks among his Marines, dolling out advice while they work, and a helping hand where needed.
He is a man of two Corps’, of two generations of Marines, having begun his time in the service in 1979, serving for eight years before ending his active duty contract, for nearly two decades, before returning once more.
“I liked everything there was about the Marine Corps,” said King, explaining how when he was in high school, he accompanied a friend of his to the recruiter’s office, and found something he didn’t know he was looking for.
“Listening to the recruiter talk, I thought, ‘I like this; I want to be a Marine.’ I was 17 years old, in high school, trying to become a man, and once I started talking to him I knew I wasn’t going any place else. Marines were the toughest, the best, and at once I knew I really wanted to do this, become a Marine and a man in the same instance, in my mind.”
Shortly thereafter, King was on his way to recruit training. Originally in the motor transportation field, he changed specialties at the end of his first enlistment, going into logistics, but after eight years, he ended his active duty service.
“I love the honor. You look out for my back and I got yours…the mentorship and seeing Marines grow,” explained King. “Even if they just stay in for four years, you’re trying to create a better person, a better man. We have honor, courage, the types of things that as a boy you idolize, like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood characters, but the real thing. As a Marine, you try to live by those standards; being a good Marine means being a good person.”
“I loved it the entire time I was in,” said King, adding that he got out for his family, and during the time away from the Corps, met his current wife. “She had two kids and I had two, so we had a sort of ‘Brady Bunch’ thing going on.”
King, who currently serves in the Marine Corps Reserve, and works as a captain in the Enka-Candler fire and rescue department in North Carolina, found himself back in the recruiter’s office 21 years later, once again accompanying another on their way to enlist; his son.
“My son went down and started talking to the recruiter … and I went down there with him to check his paperwork, and the recruiter was talking to me. He said ‘you’re a retired Marine?,’ I was like, ‘no sir, I’m not. I spent eight years in then got out.’ He asked ‘why don’t I come back in,’ and I started laughing at him. ‘I’m 47 years old, who’re you joking!’ and he said ‘no, you can get a waiver and six months you can be in.’ ‘I said, give me the paperwork.’”
King finishes the story with a long laugh, and an easy smile, before adding, “my wife says I’ve always been a Marine, and it’s true, once a Marine, always a Marine.”
Six months later, King was headed back to the Marine Corps, and his son was beginning his first enlistment, and now serves as a military policeman aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C.
With the experiences under his belt, a career back home, an associate’s degree, a wife and a family of four, most in King’s situation would be looking toward retirement, an end to work, but he seems intent on the opposite.
“I’ve been working ever since to get on active duty and I plan on finishing out 20 years,’ King said. “ I plan to show my wife some of the world. Ever since we got together we’ve always had kids, but now that it’s just her and I since they’re grown, it’s time for us to go out and see the world, depending on where I’m stationed, maybe travel, see the world. It’s just the lifestyle I’d like to show her for the next 10 years.”
But, before King can begin to work toward his long term goal of retirement, he must finish out this deployment, where both his inherent leadership skills, and experience, have earned him the respect of those he serves with.
“He’s just kind of the ‘go-to-guy’; you know he’s older and seems to know everything,” said Lance Cpl. Joseph Perry, combat engineer, from Maryville, Tenn., and a 2009 graduate of Maryville High School.
“I think he and Jesus went to high school together,” Perry added jokingly. “He’s one of those ‘there’s a thousand ways to skin a cat’ guys. In his civilian job he’s a captain at his fire department, and a lot of the leadership carries over. You can see it. He really does care about his guys.”
After a close friend of his was injured during combat operations in support of 1/6, Perry turned to King for help.
“I had a lot of trouble sleeping, and just problems with combat stress. Talking to Sgt. King at night, because he’s been there and has seen people hurt, and because he’s older and experienced, he’s given me ways to deal with it.”
Looking out for the welfare of those subordinate to a leader is one of their core roles, second only to mission accomplishment. With someone like King, it’s readily apparent the moment he introduces himself, offering a drink, or a cigar, and prowling the engineer lot for scrap wood to help make tables and desks for others.
“You see a lot of the young guys around here, and they’re like my kids,” said King. “It makes me feel good to try to help mentor or coach them along and watch them grow, like the guys on this deployment. It makes me feel good to see how they’ve grown and matured, they’re still young, all Marines are in a sense. I’m a big kid at heart, but, we’re more mature about what we do and how we make decisions. Do we make that right decision or do we goof off?”
For King, his determination to stay in is dependent not on time, but on capability, he explains, “As long as I am in shape so I can compete with them on their level, not in the 46-and-up bracket, but in their bracket and those guys have to keep up with me, I want to stay in, but when I’m not, it’s time for me to get out of here.”
With the end of their deployment just around the corner, King prepares to head home to his wife and children, but even while abroad he takes comfort in the fact that where there are Marines, he has both a home and a family.

Related articles

• Wednesday Warfighter: Marine Returns to Corps After 21 Years (dodlive.mil)
• Long live the King: Marine returns to Corps after 21 years, shares wisdom with juniors (waronterrornews.typepad.com)

Read More

Rest in Peace, Lance Sergeant Dan Collins: The Afghanistan hero who could bear the horrors of war no longer

Lance Sergeant Dan Collins lived for the Welsh Guards. He joined up at 16 and served for more than 13 years. He loved being a soldier - part of his email address was 'ArmyDan' - and he was immensely proud of his service in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

By Toby Harnden / dailymail.co.uk

Lance Sergeant Dan Collins lived for the Welsh Guards. He joined up at 16 and served for more than 13 years. He loved being a soldier - part of his email address was 'ArmyDan' - and he was immensely proud of his service in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Helmand in 2009, Collins should have died several times but miraculously survived being shot in the back, his leg being grazed by a bullet and being caught in two bomb blasts. He was a joker but also a leader. He witnessed some things no human being should see but never wavered under fire.


On New Year's Day, Collins telephoned the police from the Preseli Mountains just outside the village of Rosebush in Pembrokeshire in west Wales and told them he was going to hang himself. Helicopters were scrambled and a search was launched but it was several hours before his body was found at an old slate quarry in the mountains.

Lance Sergeant Dan Collins in February 2010 (image from dailymail.co.uk)

Dan Collins was 29 years old. A native of Cardigan, he was a son, a brother and a father. He was a Guardsman and a hero, though he would never have used the term to describe himself. While his name is unlikely ever to be carved on a memorial to the fallen his comrades will always remember him as a victim of the war in Afghanistan even though the Taliban never quite managed to kill him.


I first met Collins in Aldershot a few months after he had returned from Helmand. Although I had been with the Welsh Guards Battle Group during their 2009 tour, researching what would become my book Dead Men Risen, our paths had not crossed because he had been part of the 22-strong Fire Support Group Three - FSG-3 - which had been detached from its parent battalion and instead part of the Light Dragoons Battle Group.


As he talked to me, it became clear that he was haunted by what he had been through. When he first got back he was, as one friend described, 'full of beans' and tales of being in battle and eager to show hours of 'helmet cam' footage taken during firefights.

It did not take long, however, for the horror of what he experienced to take hold. He described to me how during Operation Panther's Claw he had already carried the body of one dead comrade to a Pedro medical helicopter when there was another blast. A Light Dragoons lance corporal had stepped on an Improvised Explosive Device.


The blast had badly wounded the company commander. The company sergeant major had gone into battle shock - wide-eyed and falling over as he barked out orders. It took more than five minutes for Collins to find the lance corporal, who was lying in an irrigation ditch and had lost both legs and an arm.


For nearly 15 minutes , Collins and others fought to save the lance corporal's life. Collins told me:


'He was unconscious but one thing that stuck in my mind and I'll never forget it. As I was doing compressions, I looked at his face and I could see his eyes opening. I don’t think he knew anything about what was going on but it was like he was looking at me.'

The lance corporal was pronounced dead on the helicopter.


A day later, Collins and his comrades had advanced further when there was another large explosion as the Welsh Guards were about to clear the track ahead. Collins screamed over the radio at the two soldiers he knew were doing the clearing with metal detectors. One replied but the other, Lance Corporal Dane Elson, a close friend, did not.


Collins shouted: 'Dane! Dane Dane! Can you hear us? If you can hear, do anything, just click and blow, just do anything.' But Elson had suffered catastrophic injuries similar to those of the Light Dragoons lance corporal the day before. Perhaps mercifully, he had been killed outright.

Talking about it months later, Collins described this as 'one of the lowest moments of my life'.

Lance Corporal Dane Elson (left) and Lance Sergeant Dan Collins in Afghanistan on the eve of Operation Panther's Claw in 2009 (image from dailymail.co.uk)

'We just all sat there and we had our own little cry. Everyone had their own little moment. It was pretty hard to deal with. The next day we just picked it up and everything we'd done then was for Dane. We took the fight to the Taliban and we were fighting on for Dane.'

Earlier in the tour, Collins had been hit in the base of his body armour during a Taliban ambush. The impact, he told me, was 'like a full swing of hammer straight into your spine'.  He could feel a burning sensation and excruciating pain but there was no blood - just severe bruising.

'After that, it was a bit of a mixed emotion. I went into a bit of shock then I started laughing because I'd been shot but I was sort of all right. I was in agony but was laughing. Then it went to crying because my partner was pregnant with my little girl. It was like 'I could have just died'.

Collins's daughter Scarlet was born in July 2009, shortly after Elson's death. By that time, Collins had broken up with the mother but he was delighted to be a father.


On the day his body armour stopped the bullet in his back, Collins was unshaven. After that, he never shaved before a patrol, adding that to his superstitious ritual of listening to Linkin Park on his iPod before going out. Underneath his body armour he wore a wooden cross, one of those blessed in Bangor Cathedral and distributed by the chaplain before the tour.


Collins was elated to have survived the bullet that should have killed him and remarked to an Army press officer: 'If I ever meet the person who designed our body armour, I'll buy them a pint.' True to his word, he later met a representative of the firm NP Aerospace, which made the body armour, at a pub in Cardiff.


He laughed as he told me about the telephone call to his mother, while he was still high on morphine and ketamine, after he had been shot in the back:


'I rung my Mum and I said, 'Mum, don't panic. I'm in the hospital. I've been shot'. And she was like, 'What? What?!' I said, 'Look, I'm fine. I obviously wouldn't be talking to you if I was in a bad way'. Mothers do worry.'

Collins was carried to a helicopter and evacuated back to Camp Bastion a second time after a bullet grazed his shin. Twice he was blown off his feet by IED blasts. Of all the Welsh Guardsmen on that bloody tour, Collins had probably come close to death more times than any of those who returned.


In Dead Men Risen, I wrote of how post-traumatic stress seemed to affect NCOs like Collins more than the ordinary guardsmen:


In Helmand, they were the ones holding everyone else together and they were often heavily involved in treating casualties. One NCO tried to kill himself shortly after getting back but was saved when his wife found him hanging in the kitchen and cut the rope. Lance Sergeant Dan Collins, who was shot twice and survived two IED blasts, could not sleep when he returned and had recurrent nightmares.

In one, he kept seeing the face of the mortally wounded lance corporal . His girlfriend would be woken up by his shouting ‘Medic!’ or ‘Man down!’ The death of Dane Elson continued to haunt him. Sometimes he would call out ‘Dane!’ in his sleep. Collins first realised he needed help when he heard a loud noise in Tesco and flung himself to the ground.


Like a number of his colleagues, Collins received counselling for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and was placed in the care of a psychiatric nurse. He spent a period off sick at home but when he returned to work he panicked during a live-firing exercise in Wiltshire. There was more psychiatric treatment and there seemed to be an improvement but he did not go back to the battalion.


Collins was unable to see his daughter for long periods but told friends he was looking forward to having custody and access arrangements worked out in 2012. On Christmas Day, he wrote on Facebook:


'Merry Xmas to u all gotta love the Xmas flu. to my gorgeous daughter daddy loves u and hopefully will see u in the nr future wherever you are will have lots of bday and Xmas presents for you xx'
Two days later, things appeared to be bad again. He posted:


'Time to stop feeling sorry for my self shower and do something with the day maybe a long walk over the mountains me thinks or a stroll down the beach.'

There has been an outpouring of grief from comrades and friends of Dan Collins. He is due to receive a full military funeral that will doubtless match those of the Welsh Guardsmen killed in 2009 - Lance Sergeant Tobie Fasfous (whose coffin Collins shouldered at his repatriation service in Camp Bastion), Lieutenant Mark Evison, Major Sean Birchall, Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe and Lance Corporal Elson.


Over the coming months and years there will be many questions about why he took his own life. Alas, there will probably be fewer answers.


Many soldiers back from Afghanistan find themselves in a very dark place. Dan Collins, it seems, could not envision a way out of the darkness.


He leaves behind his mother Deana, his younger sister Megan, his girlfriend Vicky and his daughter Scarlet, two, as well as many, many friends. Starting next month, the Welsh Guards will be returning to Helmand.


Rest in Peace, Army Dan.
Have your say on Toby Harnden's blog


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2081638/Lance-Sergeant-Dan-Collins-Afghanistan-hero-bear-horrors-war-longer.html#ixzz1iXKSMpRw

Read More

Taliban releases statement on negotiations

Image via Wikipedia

The Taliban has released an official statement at its website, Voice of Jihad, to confirm that it has had discussions with Qatar to "establish a political office outside the country" and "has also asked for the release of its prisoners from the Guantanamo prison in exchange basis." The full text of the statement is below.

By Bill Roggio - January 3, 2012 7:07 PM, LWJ - Threat Matrix

The Taliban has released an official statement at its website, Voice of Jihad, to confirm that it has had discussions with Qatar to "establish a political office outside the country" and "has also asked for the release of its prisoners from the Guantanamo prison in exchange basis." The full text of the statement is below.

The Guardian reported that the "US has agreed in principle to release high-ranking Taliban officials from Guantánamo Bay in return for the Afghan insurgents' agreement to open a political office for peace negotiations in Qatar." Here are the five Taliban leaders that the US is willing to turn over; all have extensive ties to al Qaeda. Note that Thomas Joscelyn pointed out the names of four of the five Taliban leaders in March 2011, long before other news agencies discovered the names last week.

The Hindu noted that the US is utilizing Yusuf al Qaradawi, the radical Muslim Brotherhood cleric who has justified suicide attacks and supported the Iraqi insurgency as well as terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, to negotiate with the Taliban. Qaradawi resides in Qatar.

Statement of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan regarding negotiations

It is a unambiguous reality that the Islamic movement of Taliban arose to establish an Islamic system in Afghanistan, uproot injustice, eradicate narcotics and the local writ of gunmen, strengthen security and to form national unity and with the help of Allah and with the backing and sacrifices of the nation, it was able to eradicate corruption and establish an Islamic government in the various provinces and the capital in a very short period of time. It almost completely eliminated the years of strife and fragmentation in the whole country and was able to bring ninety five percent of the country under the control of the central government. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has always tried to solve the problems with the opposition through talks.
The ongoing issue in the country which came about ten years ago has been between two fundamental elements: on the one side is Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and on the other is the United States of America and its foreign allies.
The stance of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the beginning has been to bring about the end of the invasion of Afghanistan and to let the Afghans establish an Islamic government of their own choosing which does not pose danger to anyone. Through realization and understanding, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has time and again made clear its stance to other nations and has persistently said that the allied nations under the leadership of America will never be able to subdue the Afghans by force in order to realize its aims. We are at the moment, besides our powerful presence inside the country ready to establish a political office outside the country to come to an understanding with other nations and in this series, we have reached an initial agreement with Qatar and other related sides. Islamic Emirate has also asked for the release of its prisoners from the Guantanamo prison in exchange basis.
Apart from this, the perturbing reports spread by some news agencies and western officials about negotiations have no reality and are strongly rejected by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2012/01/taliban_release_statement_on_n.php

Read More