RAF Regiment leads operation against Taliban bomb-makers

A Military Operations news article

13 Feb 12

Members of the RAF Regiment have found and destroyed a large cache of Taliban IED-making equipment in an operation conducted alongside Afghan and US forces.

Members of II Squadron RAF Regiment and the US Marine Corps board a US Osprey aircraft at Camp Bastion in Helmand province [Picture: Corporal Andy Benson RAF, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]

Operation DISHATA PASHA (Pashtu for 'backfoot') was launched at dawn on Monday 6 February 2012, with RAF Regiment troops from II Squadron. The force also included warriors from the Afghan Army's 3rd Brigade of 215 Corps, and US Marines from II Marine Expeditionary Force.

The troops deployed by US Osprey aircraft, with its unique tilt-rotor capability, and the operation resulted in the finding and destruction of a suspected insurgent IED cache close to Bastion Airfield in Helmand province. They also acquired a wealth of intelligence despite coming under fire several times.

The operation took place in the dashte (or desert) south of Bastion Airfield, whose protection is the task of II Squadron, operating as part of 3 RAF Force Protection Wing....

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