| The troops — who now form the The Black Watch 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) — recovered explosives from the Maywand district of war-torn Kandahar.
The regiment, which has strong ties with Dundee, Fife and Tayside, including their ancestral home at Balhousie Castle, Perth, will be based at Camp Roberts at Kandahar Airfield for the next five months, after taking over duties from 42 Commando Royal Marines.
The offensive, codenamed Operation Sarak 1, was part of a five-day mission involving 525 soldiers and a rifle company of the Afghanistan National Army. Troops from The Black Watch were dropped from US Chinook and US marine Sea Stallion helicopters.
Lt-Col Stephen Cartwright, commanding officer of The Black Watch, said UK Apache and US Cobra attack helicopters provided air cover, while they were supported by Royal Marines on the ground.
“We found parts of improvised explosive devices and insurgent military supplies,” he said. “This was our first Battle Group size operation since the battalion was in Iraq five years ago. It passed without major incident, with a few small finds of insurgent ordnance and parts of improvised explosive devices. There were no engagements with insurgents themselves.”
He continued, “The Afghan people in the area were pleased to see the Afghan Army being supported by the International Security Assistance Force.”
The Black Watch was involved in an operation just days after arriving in Afghanistan when they recovered Taliban explosives. These were destroyed in a controlled explosion by the Royal Engineer troop. |
