Operation Headstrong involved the training of

Afghan 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 ...

commandos in a grouping called the

Afghan Special Narcotics Force 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 ...

(ASNF) by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

special forces, including the Special Air Service, to seek out and destroy drug laboratories and to confiscate drug shipments. Britain later provided four helicopters for the ASNF's use. British assistance to the ASNF amounted to £6.23 million in 2005–6, £9.4 million in 2006–7, and £32.5 million in 2007–8.

Background

Britain was the lead nation on counternarcotics in the Bonn Agreement and began forming a counternarcotics force known as Task Force 333, which would attack labs processing opium into crystal heroin. Elite Afghan units were trained and mentored by members of the British SAS.

Operation

The operation, dubbed Operation Headstrong was launched on 2 January 2004 with a raid on a heroin lab in northern

Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

. By mid-2004, Force 333 had two operational units of 150 men each. One former Force 333 commander said that whenever the group hit a lab in the south of the country, they were guaranteed to get attacked, for example during a raid on a large lab in Bahramcha,

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

, the lab owner called the local Taliban subcommander who ambushed the force. The ambush was so vicious the commander had to call in US air support to suppress it.

References

Headstrong Headstrong {{UK-mil-stub