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KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan national army and International Security Assistance Force troops recently completed Operation KAPCHA BAZ in an area south of Garmsir, in southern Helmand province. The joint operation resulted in the successful disruption of multiple insurgent groups.
Operation KAPCHA BAZ, Pashtu for 'Cobra Eagle', involved nearly 100 ANA and more than 250 ISAF troops with the goal of finding and disrupting insurgents and gathering information on their movements. The operation focused on four villages on the banks of the River Helmand.
The ANA Kandak consisting of 205 Hero Corps, mentored by an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team from the 1st Battalion The Rifles, played an integral part in the operation after undertaking probing patrols to disrupt insurgents the week prior.
On March 8, ISAF soldiers were inserted by helicopter before moving into one of the villages, where they defeated a number of attempted insurgent ambushes. Simultaneously, ANA soldiers, accompanied by their attached mentors, advanced to the southern edge of the village.
The insurgents were surprised by the two-pronged attack and many fled while the ANA successfully dealt with the remaining resistance.
To the north of the village, ISAF troops moved into the bazaar. The retreating enemy had started fires in local shops in an attempt to delay the advancing forces. While ISAF soldiers and local Afghans fought the flames to save shops and homes, at least six local businesses were destroyed.
Following the engagement with the enemy, the ANA led a shura with local elders to explain the necessity of the operation and to reassure the population of their presence.
Over the following two days, the remaining ISAF troops focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the area by visiting two other villages and holding a series of shuras with locals.
"The breathing space that we have won through operations such as KAPHCA BAZ has enabled the delivery of reconstruction and development of the Garmsir area and gives tangible proof to those that live there of the benefits that the government of Afghanistan, supported by ISAF, can bring to their lives," said Lt. Col. Alan Richmond, 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, commanding officer of Battlegroup South.
| Date Taken: | 03.25.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 03.25.2009 02:29 |
| Story ID: | 31565 |
| Location: | KABUL, AF |
| Web Views: | 402 |
| Downloads: | 387 |
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