British troops Royal Scots Borderers Regiment of Scotland and Afghan troops Tufaan operation 0912121

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British Army Operation Tufaan

 
 
Sunday, December 9, 2012, 11:16 AM
 
British troops Royal Scots Borderers Regiment of Scotland and Afghan troops in Tufaan operation.
OPERATION Tufaan or Storm was a large-scale Afghan planned and led operation to clear and secure an area of central Helmand, Afghanistan. It involved many hundreds of troops from the 3/215 Brigade of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and it was supported by The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 SCOTS) who are based in Edinburgh as part of 4th Mechanized Brigade (The Black Rats).
     
OPERATION Tufaan or Storm was a large-scale Afghan planned and led operation to clear and secure an area of central Helmand, Afghanistan. It involved many hundreds of troops from the 3/215 Brigade of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and it was supported by The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 SCOTS) who are based in Edinburgh as part of 4th Mechanized Brigade (The Black Rats).
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland pausing to allow a patrol of Afghan warriors to pass during Op Tuufan in Helmand Province. (Copyright British MOD)

     

With an objective to secure an area of central Helmand province, both sets of troops moved quickly into and through the desert or 'dashte' areas, getting ahead of schedule immediately on day one. Although coming under sporadic fire from the insurgency their progress was impressive.

Major Andy Lumley (37) Officer Commanding Delta Company 1 SCOTS said: “[The ANA] have been really quick and we have had very little input from us as we moved behind. They have not really needed any help from us at all. They are ahead of schedule now.”

Colonel Jhang Baz a senior Afghan Commander in the ANA Brigade said: “The ANA is in the front line of the operations and they are followed by ISAF who support us. The main job is run by the ANA and if necessary ISAF supports us with their Air support.”

1 SCOTS are operating as the Brigade Advisory Group (BAG) in the region providing advice and support to the ANA as part of Operation Herrick 17.

     
OPERATION Tufaan or Storm was a large-scale Afghan planned and led operation to clear and secure an area of central Helmand, Afghanistan. It involved many hundreds of troops from the 3/215 Brigade of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and it was supported by The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 SCOTS) who are based in Edinburgh as part of 4th Mechanized Brigade (The Black Rats).
An Afghan National Army Warrior patroling with a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) during Op Tuufan in Afghanistan. (Copyright British MOD)
     

Lance Corporal Steven Guest (27) who provides the force protection to the British adviser teams on the ground said: “A lot of the time [the ANA] don’t really need us to do anything for them. They seem to be able to cope with it themselves. They do a lot of good work without us having to advise. When we go out to the check points they are already doing patrols, fitness – some of them are really organised and switched on guys.”

The BAG’s role is to increase the confidence of the ANA and reduce the reliance on ISAF troops ready for the end of combat operations by British forces in 2014. The operation ended with 6 insurgency killed, 1 ANA soldier killed and a weapons find including some prestigious weapons. The operation also involved afghan engineers, logistics, police, artillery units and their own IED experts.