Major who called RAF 'useless' tells of Taleban attacks

Posted on: Sep. 25th, 2006 || Source: timesonline.co.uk | E-mail Article | Print Article

THE British officer who sparked controversy by sending e-mails criticising the conduct of the war in Afghanistan has described in graphic detail the ferocious attacks his men faced in Helmand province.

While refusing to comment directly on three e-mails in which, among other criticisms, he described the RAF as “utterly useless” in its support of ground troops, Major Jamie Loden told The Times that his battalion had faced wave after wave of close-quarters combat from Taleban fighters trying to overrun their isolated base.

Major Loden, 33, commander of A Company of the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, said that their base in Sangin had been attacked 30 times in 34 days. His men had often slept in their body armour, their weapons by their sides, in temperatures as high as 60C (140F). Two men were killed and seven seriously wounded during the fighting. Despite the hardships, he said that morale remained high.

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