Aussie Diggers Fight Off Taliban Extremist Attack

Australian Reconstruction Task Force (RTF) soldiers based in Oruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan, have successfully repelled repeated Taliban extremist attacks against a new construction project over the past few days.

The fighting occurred near the mouth of the Baluchi Valley, approximately 15kms from Tarin Kowt, where RTF engineers are building a patrol base for the Afghan National Army.

RTF Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel David Wainwright said the sporadic probing and fighting occurred over a period of several days culminating with an RPG attack onto the construction site.

"The insurgents challenged our security position intensely," Lieutenant Colonel Wainwright said.

"The RTF soldiers immediately responded to their attacks and followed up in subsequent days with aggressive patrolling throughout the area."

Taliban extremists conducted unsuccessful simultaneous attacks from different directions onto the Australian position. The Australians utilised both their ASLAV vehicles as well as mortars to repel the extremist assaults.

The RTF security patrol's aggressive response caused the enemy to break off their attack, abandoning their weapons in hastily prepared caches which were later uncovered through an aggressive patrolling campaign by the members of the RTF.

Media Note:
An Army Combat Cameraman was able to record the action as night fell and subsequent patrolling activities in the following days. The vision includes the RTF's response to the RPG attack including the engagement of Taliban extremist fighting positions with an ASLAV's 25mm main gun and 7.62mm coax machine gun. The vision package also includes the RTF's discovery of the hastily prepared cache and discussions with local villagers who witnessed the attack.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ADF
• Australian
• Defence
• Force
• RTF
• Afghanistan
• Taliban
• Extremist
• Attack