Siege of Sangin
Encyclopedia
The Siege of Sangin lasted between June 2006 and April 2007, during which time Taliban insurgents
besieged
the district centre of Sangin District
in Helmand Province
, Afghanistan
, occupied by British ISAF
soldiers. During the siege, fighting became intensive, causing General David J. Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, to declare that Helmand province had seen the fiercest fighting involving British troops
since the Korean War
. It became emblematic of the difficulty of the mission being carried out by British soldiers in Afghanistan, who nicknamed it "Sangingrad" (in reference to the battle of Stalingrad
).
production and a hotbed of Taliban activity. The opposition to the Afghan government and to the presence of foreign troops came from a mix of Taliban, local tribesmen and drug traffickers
, who were afraid that ISAF
troops might destroy their opium poppy
crops. Before the British deployment, the area was believed to be under complete Taliban control.
Several incidents involving coalition troops had already occurred in that sector: on June 13, a U.S. convoy was ambushed north of Sangin, on the road to Musa Qala
. A Company, 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, were called into the town to protect the convoy, but they withdrew after only 24 hours presence.
In late June, under pressure from President
Hamid Karzai
, the decision was taken to deploy British troops in Sangin to enforce the authority of the Afghan government. This represented an important change from the "inkspot" strategy that had been carried out previously around Lashkar Gah.
The "district centre" (DC), a run-down compound half a mile from the town centre, became a base for some 120 British troops. It also housed the local government offices, and an Afghan police force. The position was strengthened with rudimentary fortifications consisting of foxholes dug round the perimeter and sandbag
s reinforcing the compound walls.
At first there was no contact with the Taliban, and the attitude of the inhabitants was passive, if not sympathetic to the presence of British troops, who were able to patrol the city safely. The situation changed abruptly on June 27th, after a failed raid by the Special Reconnaissance Regiment
, during which two soldiers were killed not far from Sangin.
The attitude of the locals changed suddenly, and the base was attacked soon after with small arms. Taliban attacks increased to five or six a day, including fire from RPG-7
anti-tank rocket launchers. With all roads cut, the district centre was effectively under siege, and wholly dependent on helicopter flights from Camp Bastion
for resupply. This was sometimes interrupted for as long as five days, as Taliban fire would have put the helicopters at risk. A unit of Royal Engineers
surrounded the whole compound and the helicopter landing pad with a double rampart of Hesco barriers
, despite Taliban fire.
On July 1, two signallers, Corporal Peter Thorpe and Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi
, and an Afghan interpreter, who were listening in to Taliban communications, were killed when a Chinese-made 107mm rocket
hit the district centre. Hashmi was the first British Muslim
soldier to die during the War on Terror
.
Each attack was repulsed, as British troops posted on the DC rooftop directed fire from artillery
, mortars
and airstrikes from attack helicopters and jets against the Taliban, inflicting heavy losses. The situation worsened when the Afghan policemen began defecting to the Taliban, giving them inside information about the layout of the base.
, 200 British paratroops, supported by Apache helicopters
, were inserted by Chinook into Sangin. In a concerted attack with the troops stationed there, they were able to break the siege of the District Centre. They were supported by 700 coalition troops, including American, Canadian, Afghan and Estonia
n forces. In a cordon and search operation, the town was sealed off and Taliban compounds were searched and cleared. Ten Taliban were confirmed killed during this operation, and the others were driven out. The operation weakened the Taliban hold on the city, but did not break it, and the district centre was soon under attack again.
Bryan Budd
counterattacked and Budd himself killed two enemy fighters, but the section was forced to withdraw under heavy fire, with two men injured. It was only later that the platoon commander
realized that Budd was missing, but rescuing him proved impossible due to heavy fire from the Taliban. The company commander, Major
Jamie Loden, organised a relief force, cobbled together from various units, including elements of the Royal Engineers
and two Royal Military Police
men who happened to be in Sangin. Supported by the fire of two Apache helicopters, the British finally rescued Budd an hour after he had been hit, but it was too late to save him, and he died of his injuries. For his bravery during this action, Corporal Budd was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross
, the highest distinction in the British armed forces.
The paratroopers were later replaced by Lima Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines and then C Company, 2nd Battalion Light Infantry who then spent a relatively peaceful 3 months in the District Centre. The situation then flared once more as the handover between C Company and Mike Company 42 Commando RM commenced. A vicious spike in the violence took place, with 29 Commando's Fire Support Teams, (then providing fire support to the infantry) sustaining 3 killed in action in less than a week. Mike Company's short but bloody tenure saw them relieved in March 2007 by C Company Group, 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
. In their first twenty days in Sangin, the fusiliers were attacked 79 times.
In April 2007, more than 1,000 international forces took part in Operation Silver, with the objective of relieving Sangin. NATO gave advance warning of the coming assault by dropping leaflets, and through the town elders, who were charged with spreading the word.
U.S. troops from 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division launched a heliborne assault at various locations approximately 5 kilometers south of the district center. Augmented with elements of the Afghan National Army, 1-508 assaulted north and pursued enemy forces to positions north and east of the district center. Simultaneously, a column of armoured transports with 250 Royal Marines
from 42 Commando
attacked from the north. Danish and Estonian soldiers also participated, and fire-support was provided by Dutch
and American aircraft, and by Canadian artillery.
On April 5, coalition troops occupied Sangin, meeting only light resistance, as the town had been mostly vacated by the Taliban, and abandoned by most of its inhabitants. Though Taliban groups still operated in surrounding areas, the Afghan civil authorities were able to return, marking the end of the siege. The governor of Helmand province appointed a new local governor, and a permanent ANA base was established in the town.
Taliban insurgency
The Taliban insurgency took root shortly after the group's fall from power following the 2001 war in Afghanistan. The Taliban continue to attack Afghan, U.S., and other ISAF troops and many terrorist incidents attributable to them have been registered. The war has also spread over the southern and...
besieged
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
the district centre of Sangin District
Sangin District
Sangin is a district in the east of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Its population, which is 100% Pashtun, was 50,900 in 2005. The district centre is the town of Sangin.-References:* , dated 2002-12-01, accessed 2006-08-04 .-External links:*...
in Helmand Province
Helmand Province
Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, occupied by British ISAF
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
soldiers. During the siege, fighting became intensive, causing General David J. Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, to declare that Helmand province had seen the fiercest fighting involving British troops
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
since the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. It became emblematic of the difficulty of the mission being carried out by British soldiers in Afghanistan, who nicknamed it "Sangingrad" (in reference to the battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
).
Situation in Sangin
Sangin, a town of 30,000 inhabitants in Helmand province, is situated in a "green zone", a fertile agricultural area. It is well-known to be a centre for opiumOpium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
production and a hotbed of Taliban activity. The opposition to the Afghan government and to the presence of foreign troops came from a mix of Taliban, local tribesmen and drug traffickers
Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
, who were afraid that ISAF
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
troops might destroy their opium poppy
Opium poppy
Opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are extracted. Opium is the source of many opiates, including morphine , thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine...
crops. Before the British deployment, the area was believed to be under complete Taliban control.
Several incidents involving coalition troops had already occurred in that sector: on June 13, a U.S. convoy was ambushed north of Sangin, on the road to Musa Qala
Musa Qala
Musa Qala is a town and the district center of Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, at and at 1043 m altitude in the valley of Musa Qala River in the central western part of the district. Its population has been reported in the British press to be both 2,000 and 20,000...
. A Company, 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, were called into the town to protect the convoy, but they withdrew after only 24 hours presence.
In late June, under pressure from President
President of Afghanistan
Afghanistan has only been a republic between 1973 and 1992 and from 2001 onwards. Before 1973, it was a monarchy that was governed by a variety of kings, emirs or shahs...
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
, the decision was taken to deploy British troops in Sangin to enforce the authority of the Afghan government. This represented an important change from the "inkspot" strategy that had been carried out previously around Lashkar Gah.
The siege
A Company was called in to secure Sangin on June 25th, 2006 after the Taliban had killed 5 civilians on June 18, accusing them of working for the government, and a further 27 shortly afterwards when the relatives went to collect the bodies.The "district centre" (DC), a run-down compound half a mile from the town centre, became a base for some 120 British troops. It also housed the local government offices, and an Afghan police force. The position was strengthened with rudimentary fortifications consisting of foxholes dug round the perimeter and sandbag
Sandbag
A sandbag is a sack made of hessian/burlap, polypropylene or other materials that is filled with sand or soil and used for such purposes as flood control, military fortification, shielding glass windows in war zones and ballast....
s reinforcing the compound walls.
At first there was no contact with the Taliban, and the attitude of the inhabitants was passive, if not sympathetic to the presence of British troops, who were able to patrol the city safely. The situation changed abruptly on June 27th, after a failed raid by the Special Reconnaissance Regiment
Special Reconnaissance Regiment
The Special Reconnaissance Regiment or SRR is a Special Forces regiment of the British Armed Forces. It was established on 6 April 2005 and is part of the United Kingdom Special Forces under command Director Special Forces, alongside the Special Air Service , Special Boat Service and the Special...
, during which two soldiers were killed not far from Sangin.
The attitude of the locals changed suddenly, and the base was attacked soon after with small arms. Taliban attacks increased to five or six a day, including fire from RPG-7
RPG-7
The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
anti-tank rocket launchers. With all roads cut, the district centre was effectively under siege, and wholly dependent on helicopter flights from Camp Bastion
Camp Bastion
Camp Bastion is the main British military base in Afghanistan. Accommodating 21,000 people it is situated northwest of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province, and exists to be the logistics hub for operations in Helmand....
for resupply. This was sometimes interrupted for as long as five days, as Taliban fire would have put the helicopters at risk. A unit of Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
surrounded the whole compound and the helicopter landing pad with a double rampart of Hesco barriers
Hesco bastion
The HESCO bastion is both a modern gabion used for flood control and military fortification and the name of the British company that developed it in the late 1980s. It is made of a collapsible wire mesh container and heavy duty fabric liner, and used as a temporary to semi-permanent dike or barrier...
, despite Taliban fire.
On July 1, two signallers, Corporal Peter Thorpe and Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi
Jabron Hashmi
Lance-Corporal Jabron Hashmi or Jibran Hashmi was a British soldier who died.Hashmi was born in Peshawar, Pakistan, and moved to Britain with his family when he was 12. He joined the army in 2004...
, and an Afghan interpreter, who were listening in to Taliban communications, were killed when a Chinese-made 107mm rocket
Rocket artillery
Rocket artillery is a type of artillery equipped with rocket launchers instead of conventional guns or mortars.Types of rocket artillery pieces include multiple rocket launchers.-History:...
hit the district centre. Hashmi was the first British Muslim
Islam in the United Kingdom
Islam has been present in the United Kingdom since its formation in 1707, though it was not legally recognised until the Trinitarian Act in 1812. Today it is the second largest religion in the country with estimates suggesting that by 2010 the total Muslim population had reached 2.869 million.The...
soldier to die during the War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
.
Each attack was repulsed, as British troops posted on the DC rooftop directed fire from artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, mortars
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
and airstrikes from attack helicopters and jets against the Taliban, inflicting heavy losses. The situation worsened when the Afghan policemen began defecting to the Taliban, giving them inside information about the layout of the base.
Operation Mountain Thrust
On July 16, during Operation Mountain ThrustOperation Mountain Thrust
Operation Mountain Thrust was a Canadian and Afghan-led operation in the war in Afghanistan, with more than 2,300 U.S., 3,300 British troops, 2,200 Canadian troops, about 3,500 Afghan soldiers and large air support...
, 200 British paratroops, supported by Apache helicopters
Westland WAH-64 Apache
The AgustaWestland Apache is a licence-built version of the Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter for the British Army's Army Air Corps. The first eight helicopters were built by Boeing; the remaining 59 were assembled by Westland Helicopters at Yeovil, Somerset in England from...
, were inserted by Chinook into Sangin. In a concerted attack with the troops stationed there, they were able to break the siege of the District Centre. They were supported by 700 coalition troops, including American, Canadian, Afghan and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n forces. In a cordon and search operation, the town was sealed off and Taliban compounds were searched and cleared. Ten Taliban were confirmed killed during this operation, and the others were driven out. The operation weakened the Taliban hold on the city, but did not break it, and the district centre was soon under attack again.
Continued fighting
On August 20, a 20-man group of paratroopers was clearing a compound when they were ambushed by the Taliban. A section led by CorporalCorporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
Bryan Budd
Bryan Budd
Bryan James Budd VC was a Northern Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
counterattacked and Budd himself killed two enemy fighters, but the section was forced to withdraw under heavy fire, with two men injured. It was only later that the platoon commander
Platoon leader
A platoon leader or platoon commander is the officer in command of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer — a second or first lieutenant, or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant...
realized that Budd was missing, but rescuing him proved impossible due to heavy fire from the Taliban. The company commander, Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Jamie Loden, organised a relief force, cobbled together from various units, including elements of the Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
and two Royal Military Police
Royal Military Police
The Royal Military Police is the corps of the British Army responsible for the policing of service personnel, and for providing a military police presence both in the UK, and whilst service personnel are deployed overseas on operations and exercises.Members of the RMP are generally known as...
men who happened to be in Sangin. Supported by the fire of two Apache helicopters, the British finally rescued Budd an hour after he had been hit, but it was too late to save him, and he died of his injuries. For his bravery during this action, Corporal Budd was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, the highest distinction in the British armed forces.
The paratroopers were later replaced by Lima Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines and then C Company, 2nd Battalion Light Infantry who then spent a relatively peaceful 3 months in the District Centre. The situation then flared once more as the handover between C Company and Mike Company 42 Commando RM commenced. A vicious spike in the violence took place, with 29 Commando's Fire Support Teams, (then providing fire support to the infantry) sustaining 3 killed in action in less than a week. Mike Company's short but bloody tenure saw them relieved in March 2007 by C Company Group, 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division.The regiment was formed on April 23, 1968, as part of the reforms of the army that saw the creation of the first 'large infantry regiments', by the amalgamation of the four English fusilier...
. In their first twenty days in Sangin, the fusiliers were attacked 79 times.
Relief of Sangin
U.S. troops from 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division launched a heliborne assault at various locations approximately 5 kilometers south of the district center. Augmented with elements of the Afghan National Army, 1-508 assaulted north and pursued enemy forces to positions north and east of the district center. Simultaneously, a column of armoured transports with 250 Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
from 42 Commando
42 Commando
42 Commando Royal Marines is a battalion sized formation of the British Royal Marines and a subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet....
attacked from the north. Danish and Estonian soldiers also participated, and fire-support was provided by Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and American aircraft, and by Canadian artillery.
On April 5, coalition troops occupied Sangin, meeting only light resistance, as the town had been mostly vacated by the Taliban, and abandoned by most of its inhabitants. Though Taliban groups still operated in surrounding areas, the Afghan civil authorities were able to return, marking the end of the siege. The governor of Helmand province appointed a new local governor, and a permanent ANA base was established in the town.