"It's a game of cat and mouse"

Forward Operating Base (FOB) Keenan, which lies in the village of Zumbelay, about 15km from Gereshk, Afghanistan, was captured by The Mercian Regiment last year. The mud and stone walls of the former farmer's compound bear the scars of erratic Taliban small-arms fire and Rocket Propelled Grenades.

When 3 Company, Coldstream Guards rotated in to replace The Mercians. Taliban fighters tried to take advantage of their arrrival by launching a week-long assault on the FOB. The Taliban were beaten back and the Guards have spent the ensuing months gradually pushing the insurgents out of the area.

Company commander Major Tom Charles, "Welsh Guards. explained Operation Palk Wahel, the initial push into Zumbelay, was designed to drive the Taliban out of the area to the east of the River Helmand. There has been reasonable level of security attained and local villagers began moving back to their homes. But the fighting is far from over.

Since the initial onslaught on Keenan proved ineffective, direct Taliban attacks have become much rarer. Contact now most frequently occurs in the form of hit-and-run ambushes on the Guards' fighting patrols, which cover a radius of agricultural land of the fertile strip of Helmand's green zone. "It is a game of cat and mouse with us both trying to find each other," said Major Charles. "What we are now encountenng is small pockets of enemy, using insurgency-type tactics. that hit and leave quickly. They are very agile and know the ground, which makes it difficult to pin them down.

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"During the rain the irrigation ditches filled with water and got wider and wider. It became an ambush paradise, but because there's no high ground the only way to get through it is to clear through on foot.'"

Working under a Danish battlegroup, the men of 3 Company have spent their entire deployment to date working in the relative isolation of FOB Keenan where, despite the basic living conditions, the soldiers undertake patrols on an almost daily basis.

"Morale is most high when they get back from fighting the Taliban" concluded Maj. Charles. "'When you watch a patrol coming in, there's a big smile on everyone's faces. It's what they trained for and they really love it."

Neil Weddell. MoD

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COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning