Operation Panchai Palang, or Panther's Claw, was a British-led military operation of the War in Afghanistan in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. It aimed to secure various canal and river crossings to establish a permanent International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) presence in the area. The commander of the operation declared the first stage a success on 27 July 2009.

Background

British forces in Helmand

Soon after the Taliban insurgency took root in Afghanistan large tracts of Helmand Province came under Taliban control. Of all of Afghanistan's provinces, Helmand "has been the most difficult" for coalition forces, according to BBC News

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

Ian Pannell, and holds the largest Taliban presence. British forces deployed to Helmand in 2006, formally assuming responsibility for security in the province from US forces on 1 May 2006. In Helmand, described as "the centre of the Taliban insurgency", they faced heavy combat and regular attacks by Taliban fighters. According to Pannell, the "latest figures" show that more than 10 attacks took place each day in Helmand Province as of July 2009, and most of the nearly 170 British forces fatalities in Afghanistan since 2001 prior to Panther's Claw were caused by the Taliban in Helmand.

Taking and holding ground

Panther's Claw was preceded by several other operations carried out by British and Afghan government forces with the purpose of "taking and holding ground" in Helmand Province. Operation Zafar, launched on 27 April, lasted one week and involved more than 200 troops of the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

(ANA) and Afghan National Police, supported by elements of the Mercian Regiment and The Royal Gurkha Rifles, respectively. The operation succeeded in clearing the Taliban from several villages around Basharan in central Helmand, killing "many Taliban insurgents" according to the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(MoD) at a cost of only "handful" of ANA and British casualties. ''Zafar 2'', launched on 19 May, and lasting four days, saw British troops deployed to secure an area so that a checkpoint—to be manned by Afghan forces—could be built on a key route into the provincial

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

Lashkar Gah Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...

. On 29 May, soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers engaged and drove out Taliban fighters near the village of Yatimchay, south of Musa Qala. Lt Col Nick Richardson, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, credited the arrival of additional American forces in Helmand with increasing the operational capability of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces in the province and helping to open the way for Panther's Claw.

The Operation

Airborne assault

Panther's Claw was launched around

midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

on 19 June 2009 with the stated aim of securing control of various canal and river crossings and establishing a lasting ISAF presence in an area described by Lt Col Richardson as "one of the main Taliban strongholds" ahead of the

2009 Afghan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan on 20 August 2009. The election resulted in victory for incumbent Hamid Karzai, who won 49.67% of the vote, while his main rival Abdullah Abdullah finished second with 30.59% of the vote. The e ...

. In what the Ministry of Defence described as "one of the largest air operations in modern times", according to BBC News, more than 350 troops from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS),(2 Rifles) transported by twelve Chinook helicopters, deployed into Babaji, north of the provincial

, in Helmand Province. The operation, which involved thirteen other aircraft—including Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, Harriers, unmanned aerial vehicles, and an AC-130H Spectre gunship—involved both British and American air power, and was supported by more than 150 ground forces from the Black Watch and

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. Taliban fighters in the area launched multiple attacks against British forces, all of which were repelled, and 3 SCOTS secured three key crossings—the Lui Mandey Wadi crossing, the Nahr e-Burgha canal and the Shamalan canal—by 23 June. To restrict movement by Taliban forces, British troops also constructed several checkpoints to be manned by 3 SCOTS but eventually ceded to the Afghan National Police.

Outcome

According to Lt Col Stephen Cartwright,

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the Black Watch, 3 SCOTS established a "firm foothold" in the area of the operation despite encountering resistance. Lt Col Richardson reported that British forces killed several insurgents during the course of the operation, which was dubbed the "Battle of Babaji" by a number of news media outlets. On 23 June, the MoD reported that British troops involved in Panther's Claw discovered 1.3 tonnes of

poppy seed Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum''). The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. It is still widely used in many countries, ...

the day before, as well as improvised explosive devices (IEDs)—which they disabled—and

anti-personnel An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles ga ...

land mines. Analysis of a sample of the crop by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Kabul, however, revealed the haul to be of

mung bean The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract G ...

Insurgent supply line cut off

Soldiers Engage the Taliban in Afghanistan MOD 45150644

On 25 June, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards with attachments from 4th Bn The Rifles, pushed up Shamalan canal securing 14 more crossing points, cutting off the insurgents' supply route and thus preventing more Taliban fighters coming into the Babaji area.

Third wave

In the third phase of Panther's Claw, more than 700 British soldiers from the

Light Dragoons The Light Dragoons (LD) is a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment has a light cavalry role and specialises in mounted and dismounted reconnaissance. The Light Dragoons recruit mainly in Northern England, from the counties of Northu ...

and 2nd Battalion, Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters) supported by soldiers of the Danish Battle Group, launched a ground offensive, backed by fire support, against Taliban-held areas north of Lashkar Gah. The assault was timed to coincide with

Operation Khanjar Operation Strike of the Sword or Operation Khanjar was a US-led offensive in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. About 4,000 U.S. Marines, Marines from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade as well as 650 Afghan National Army, Afghan troops ...

, or ''Strike of the Sword'', launched on 2 July, by American forces against Taliban strongholds in the Helmand River valley. The BBC reported that British troops had by 3 July, "taken some key towns", but that their progress was impeded by insufficient resources. By 4 July, British forces had encountered "little resistance" —in contrast to American and Afghan forces to the south participating in ''Khanjar'' who were engaged in "fierce" fighting against the Taliban. As of 5 July, around 3,000

Task Force Helmand Task Force Helmand was the name given to a military unit of the International Security Assistance Force in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Task Force Helmand was part of Regional Command Southwest and consisted primarily of personnel from the Briti ...

troops from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, and Afghan government forces were involved in Panther's Claw, with the British MoD reporting close quarters combat with Taliban fighters. On 5 July, Danish Daily Politiken reported that between 55-65 soldiers or nearly half the corps, of the Danish

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

unit Jægerkorpset had been deployed in the operation, with the primary objective to aid regulars of the Danish Army secure 13 bridges over a major irrigation canal in the area. It's one of the largest known deployments of Danish special forces on foreign soil, and the largest since 2002.

Second stage

After declaring the first stage of the operation a success on 27 July 2009, UK forces commenced the second stage - which focused on holding ground won from the Taliban in previous weeks.

Casualties

*19 June: On the first day of the operation, one British soldier, a major from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed in an explosion near Lashkar Gah. *23 June: Lt Col Richardson of Task Force Helmand reported that British forces killed several Taliban fighters during operations in the vicinity of Babaji. *1 July: A Danish diversion attack was halted by pockets of resistance and sniper fire. When clearing a compound to be used as camp for the night, one Danish soldier was severely wounded, when he knelt down and triggered the pressure plate of an IED. *1 July: Two British soldiers—Lt Col Rupert Thorneloe, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and Tpr Joshua Hammond of the

2nd Royal Tank Regiment The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps and the 1st Mechanized Brigade. History Founded as B Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917 ...

—died, and six were wounded, near Shamalan Canal, at Lashkar Gah, when an IED exploded under their BvS 10 Viking armoured vehicle. Lt Col Thorneloe is the highest-ranking British army officer to be killed in action since Lt Col

'H'. Jones Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones, (14 May 1940 – 28 May 1982), known as H. Jones, was a British Army officer and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC). He was awarded the VC after being killed in action during the Battle of Goose Gr ...

in the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

and the highest-ranking to die in Afghanistan. *4 July: Two more British soldiers were killed, one from 2nd Battalion, Mercian Regiment by a

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

and a second from the

, by an IED, near Gereshk. *5 July: A member of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards was killed in an explosion near Lashkar Gah. *7 July: A member of the Light Dragoons was killed in an explosion near Gereshk. * 9–10 July: The Ministry of Defence announced that eight British soldiers had died within a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of fatalities of British Forces personnel in Afghanistan since 2001 to 184. Another 30 soldiers were wounded during that 24-hour period. Three of these soldiers were killed while supporting operation Panther's Claw. *16 July: A member of 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, was killed in an explosion near Gereshk.

Notes

* According to the

, the soldiers from the Black Watch were dropped into Babaji "just before midnight on Friday 19 June 2009". According to BBC News, the soldiers were dropped "just after midnight local time on Friday".

References

External links

* * {{cite news , title = 5 more killed in Afghanistan , work = BBC News , url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8145603.stm , date = 10 July 2009 , access-date=3 January 2010 2009 in Afghanistan Conflicts in 2009 Mercian Regiment Panther's Claw