A unit of British special forces in Afghanistan faced an unforeseen situation — they were surrounded by the Taliban. The Daily Mail tells how the brave British soldiers were rescued, and the readers of the publication actively express their opinion about this operation.
Key points
- About 20 soldiers from the special airborne service were surrounded by the Taliban after the fall of Kandahar, but were rescued by their comrades
- A group located in this part of Afghanistan gave an alarm signal when the area was captured by the Taliban
- The command has developed a bold plan to rescue the trapped servicemen, deciding to land the plane in the middle of the desert for this purpose
- Sources say that it was an amazing operation "like from a textbook", during which the pilots used an improvised runway in total darkness
A group of soldiers from the British Special Airborne Service was surrounded by the Taliban hordes in Kandahar, but was rescued as a result of a dramatic operation.
About 20 commandos from this elite service were stuck hundreds of kilometers away from their troops in Kandahar province when it was captured by militants.
When the enemy began to approach, they gave an SOS signal, asking the command of the special forces to evacuate them immediately.
But they could not use the runway in Kandahar. This airfield, where 26,000 troops from the international coalition were stationed at the peak of the military campaign, has already been captured by the Taliban militants (a terrorist organization banned in Russia-ed. ). Therefore, the commandos made their way to a secret place in the desert, where they hid from the enemy. They transmitted the coordinates of this place by communication to the headquarters of the special forces, using encoded messages.
The command of the Royal Air Force, which was engaged in the evacuation of the British and eligible Afghans from the Kabul airport, had to find a transport plane that could first land and then take off in the desert.
On Wednesday evening, fans of watching aviation flights noticed a British military transport plane "Hercules" flying over the Persian Gulf. Then he turned off the "friend-foe" identification system. Thus, the flight radars could not trace its route to a point in a desert area where the commandos found a suitable place to land.
A plane from the Air Force Special Forces wing made a risky landing in the desert in the middle of the night. To do this, the pilots put on digital night vision glasses.
One source said: "It was a very secretive operation. On Friday, Kandahar fell, and the guys were there for five days after that. The enemy went into a rage and destroyed a lot of Afghan special forces, with whom the British worked. Therefore, the evacuation operation had to be carried out urgently.
We must pay tribute to the crew of the Hercules from the 47th Squadron, who landed the plane on rough terrain, and then lifted it back into the air, taking the guys on board along with their equipment. It was a textbook operation."
On Thursday morning, the plane reappeared on tracking radars when it began to land on the runway of the international military base in Dubai.
Unfortunately for the SAS command, the C-130J aircraft that evacuated the commandos must be written off as part of the next reorganization of the Royal Air Force.
The Hercules is a military transport aircraft of the British Air Force, and in its current versions it has been providing mobility to British troops since 1999, when it was adopted. British pilots praise this machine, calling it "universal", since it is possible to parachute troops and equipment from this aircraft, and it can land and take off from an unprepared surface, for example, in the desert.
To perform such tasks, the Hercules crews learn to fly at low altitude and perform flights both during the day and at night.
The plan for the evacuation of SAS fighters was developed by the aviation wing of the joint special forces. The aircraft and crew were from the 47th Squadron. The operation was carried out at a time when the Taliban militants were making a night march to capture another key Afghan province.
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Readers ' comments
YorkyWomble
Ladies and gentlemen, that's why our troops are the best in the world. It is a shame that they are being cut, that their funding is being cut, that a culture of progressivism is being formed in their ranks.
Keshave
Or maybe this is another reason why we can't trust the Biden administration?
Twotonetiger
This has nothing to do with Biden. The Afghans themselves surrendered Kandahar. We haven't had troops there since 2014. The Americans were in Kabul.
Sandslane
Fantasy. We are so proud of you.
jkay11111
Armies with the latest weapons, which cost many billions of dollars. And they are driven away by people in sandals with ancient weapons. Shamefully.
Mark NICOL (MARK NICOL)
