Operation Herrick

Map showing Helmand province in Afghanistan where British troops were mostly located.

In January 2006, Defence Secretary John Reid announced the UK would send a PRT with several thousand personnel to Helmand for at least three years. This had been planned as part of the gradual expansion of ISAF's area of responsibility from the Kabul region to the rest of Afghanistan. An initial strength of 5,700 personnel in Afghanistan was planned, which would stabilise to around 4,500 for the rest of the deployment.[10]

The move was to be a coordinated effort with other NATO countries to relieve the predominantly American OEF presence in the south. To this end, the Netherlands and Canada would lead similar deployments in Oruzgan and Kandahar respectively.[10] Several other countries would support this move with troops. In the case of Helmand, Denmark sent 750 troops while Estonia would increase their Helmand force to 150 soldiers.[14][15]

Local Taliban figures voiced opposition to the incoming force and pledged to resist it.[16][17]

A front end loader filling HESCO barriers during a project at Camp Bastion

Before the main deployment, the Royal Engineers constructed a central fortification, Camp Bastion, to serve as a main base. A camp for an Afghan force (Camp Shorabak, initially for 3rd Brigade, 205th Corps) was built nearby. On 1 May, the US OEF force was relieved in a ceremony.[18] At the same time, the United States began a major offensive, Operation Mountain Thrust, against the insurgency in south Afghanistan. This brought ISAF forces into open conflict with the Taliban.[19]

British forces originally tried to provide security to reconstruction, but instead became engaged in combat. Platoon houses were soon established in northern settlements, due to pressure from the provincial governor for an aggressive stance.[20] However, these quickly became a focus for heavy fighting.[21] One of these was in Sangin, which was cut off and surrounded by the Taliban in early July. Eleven soldiers were killed in Sangin District over the subsequent period. On 16 July, with support from American and Canadian forces, 200 paratroopers were airlifted to take the town.[22][23]

In early August, 500 paratroopers and Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were airlifted to Musa Quala after violence flared around the platoon house. One British soldier was killed in the battle.[24] On 25 August, several hundred soldiers were involved in a second operation to escort a group of Afghan policemen as a show of force.[25]

The Taliban made direct assaults on the British-held compounds, attacking with small arms fire, RPGs, and mortar rounds at short range. The British responded with airstrikes and artillery, often aimed right outside their compound walls, in what became a close quarters battle.

Casualties increased on both sides, with many more Taliban casualties as their assault had exposed them to the full scope of NATO's heavier firepower. Numbers of civilian casualties and damage to local infrastructure increased. The NATO forces grew increasingly concerned that they were alienating residents with heavy-handed tactics, in spite of their intention to win "hearts and minds". It was also becoming clear that the British did not have the number of troops and helicopters to sustain the platoon house strategy indefinitely under the circumstances. Realising that the situation could not carry on unchanged, British commanders approached local tribal leaders to organise a temporary ceasefire.[26][27]

Through pressure from the local tribal elders and their mounting casualties, the Taliban agreed to withdraw from the contested towns at the same time as the British, having been unable to realise their goal of forcibly expelling the foreign troops. NATO estimated Taliban losses over the summer period to be around 1,000 killed in Helmand alone.[28][29]

The British commander, Brigadier Ed Butler, later said the deal had come just 48 hours before Musa Quala was planned to be abandoned because of the risks support helicopters were taking.[20] As a result of the deal, British forces peacefully withdrew from the settlement in mid October.[30] The truce drew criticism from American commanders who believed it showed a sign of weakness on NATO's part. The deal would again be called into question when the Taliban retook the town of Musa Qala by surprise in February 2007, following the killing of a leading commander in an American airstrike.[31] The town was eventually retaken by British and Afghan forces.

By late September, 31 British soldiers had died in Afghanistan over the year. Two, Corporal Bryan Budd, awarded the Victoria Cross and Corporal Mark Wright, were posthumously awarded the British Armed Forces' highest awards for gallantry. Brigadier Butler declared the Taliban to have been "tactically defeated" for the time being.[20][32]

The stress of operations was admitted to be unexpected by the Ministry of Defence,[33] and there was increasing pressure to send more forces to Helmand.[34] Lieutenant General David J. Richards said that this was the heaviest persistent combat the British Armed Forces had experienced since the Korean War or the Second World War.[35]

As a result, Operation Herrick was increased to 7,700 personnel.[36] Additional aircraft, artillery pieces (including 4GMLRS) and armoured vehicles (such as Warrior IFVs), an additional Platoon of Snipers were also sent.[37]

3 Para in combat in near Kajaki

As of December 7, 2007, an alleged 2000 Taliban rebels occupied Musa Qala. Coalition forces prepared for a siege of the town. Operation Mar Karadad [38] (translated as Operation Snakebite) was commanded by HQ Task Force Helmand, a bolstered HQ 52 Infantry Brigade, supported by 82nd Airborne Task Force Corsair. Afghan troops supported by British, Danish and US troops fought for control of the town, which was a major Taliban drug trafficking station and the Taliban's only occupied village in the strategically crucial Helmand province. It was considered to be of symbolic importance to both international forces and insurgents operating in the area.

There has been some civilian evacuation, partly aided by the aerial dropping of leaflets warning of the impending battle. In preparation, it was believed that the village was heavily mined by Taliban fighters. Sergeant Lee Johnson of the 2nd Bn The Yorkshire Regiment was killed shortly after 10am on 8 December 2007, whilst taking part in an operation to recapture the town, when a land mine exploded.[39] The Taliban insurgents withdrew from the area by midday on 10 December leaving the Afghan army and NATO forces in control of the town.[40] This was the major operation of Operation HERRICK 7 for Task Force Helmand.

In early February 2007, at the end of a six-week operation, the Royal Marines cleared 25 Taliban compounds in the proximity of the Kajaki hydroelectric dam in order to allow repair work to be conducted on the machinery.[41]

British Land Rovers patrol Sangin.

In between early March to late May 2007, the British led Operation Achilles, NATO's drive to push the Taliban out of Helmand.

In early May 2007 Operation Silver, a sub-operation of Achilles, successfully expelled Taliban fighters from the town of Sangin. It was followed in mid-May by Operation Silicon, where British led forces removed the Taliban from Gereshk and much of the surrounding countryside. The Royal Engineers then set up three camps in the area for the Afghan National Army. The book "The Junior Officers Reading Club" documents Operation Silicon.

A follow up to Achilles, Operation Lastay Kulang was launched on 30 May 2007 near the village of Kajaki Sofle, 10 kilometres to the southwest of Kajaki, to remove a Taliban force encamped there. A force of 1000 British troops, another thousand ISAF soldiers, and elements of the Afghan National Army moved into the area to confront the insurgents. On the night of 30 May the American 82nd Airborne Division conducted an air assault on enemy positions during which one of their Chinook helicopters crashed, apparently due to enemy fire, killing five Americans, a Briton and a Canadian.[42]

By the second of June, ISAF and Afghan forces had isolated several pockets of insurgent fighters in the north and south of the Upper Sangin valley. In an effort to win over local support, the Royal Engineers have started work on several reconstruction projects, such as digging irrigation ditches to help farmers in the area.[43] Operation Lastay Kulang is described in the book, Attack State Red, about the Royal Anglian Battle Group in Helmand.

A British Member of the Kajaki Operational Mentoring Liaison Team, discusses the local situation with a local resident via a translator and Afghan National Army soldier during a patrol north of the Kajaki Dam.

By late May 2007 the Taliban spring offensive promised for March 2007 had failed to materialise. This is put down in part to the massive casualties the Taliban took while trying to storm British strongholds across Helmand and by systematic attacks on their mid-level commanders during operations over the winter, which has hampered their ability to coordinate large troop movements.[44][45]

The Daily Telegraph reported[46] that they wouldn't "discount the Taliban as a spent force just yet", as an "increase in enemy tempo" was expected. As of October 2008 the number of clashes has risen from five a day to 15, lasting from 10 minutes to 11 hours.

In a new development, it has been reported that the Taliban may be recruiting child soldiers from the tribal areas of neighbouring Pakistan to fight coalition forces.[47]

In February 2008 the Taliban prepared for the summer offensive with a number of attacks on JTAC Hill.[48]

On 28 February an American website, the Drudge Report, reported that Prince Harry, a member of the Household Cavalry, was operating as a Forward Air Controller on JTAC Hill with a Gurkha unit. The MoD had made agreements with the British and a few other countries' media not to reveal that he was there until he came home or the news was otherwise released. An Australian weekly women's magazine New Idea initially broke the story in January, but it was not followed up at the time. New Idea editors claimed ignorance of any news blackout. Then a German newspaper, the Berliner Kurier, published a short piece on 28 February 2008, also before Drudge.

In late August one of the largest operations by British and NATO forces in Helmand province took place, with the aim of bringing electricity to the region. A convoy of 100 vehicles took five days to move massive sections of an electric turbine for the Kajaki Dam, covering 180 km (110 mi). The operation involved 2,000 British troops, 1,000 other NATO troops from Australia, Canada, Denmark and the US, and 1,000 Afghan soldiers.

The Canadians covered the first leg and the British took over at a meeting point in the desert, using 50 BvS 10 Viking armoured vehicles to escort the convoy. Hundreds of special forces troops went in first, sweeping the area and although difficult to verify, British commanders estimated that more than 200 insurgents were killed, without any NATO casualties. British BAe Harrier GR9 and AgustaWestland Apaches, Dutch, French and US aircraft, helicopters and unmanned drones provided aerial reconnaissance and fire support.[49] The turbine was finally commissioned in October 2016 .

Last British Chinook flight out of FOB Shawqat before handover to Afghan forces in August 2013

• OP Panchai Palang between 19 June 2009 and July 2009
• Garmsir Area of Operations handed from Task Force Helmand (TFH) to 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24 MEU) during June 2009
• Operation Moshtarak starts during February 2010
• Musa Qaleh Area of Operations handed from TFH to I Marine Expeditionary Force (1 MEF) during March 2010.
• Kajaki Area of Operations handed from TFH to 1 MEF during June 2010.
• Sangin Area of Operations handed from TFH to 1 MEF during September 2010.
• OP Qalai Sharqay during May 2011.
• Lead security for Lashkar Gah transferred to ANSF during July 2011.

During Operation Herrick a wide variety of equipment was used by the British Army:

• Mastiff 1 from December 2006 and withdrawn during H 17.
• Mastiff 2 from June 2009.
• Lightweight remote control vehicle from November 2008.[50]
• Dragon Runner from November 2008.[50]
• HORN Detector from May 2011.[51]
• RWMIK withdrawn during H 14
• Snatch Vixen withdrawn during H 14
• Jackal 1 withdrawn during H 17
• M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System withdrawn during H 17
• Trojan Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers

• LandWarfareCentre, AD (2015). Operation Herrick Campaign Study. Land Warfare Centre, Warminster, Wiltshire, UK: MoD.