This image of Australian soldiers in Afghanistan was sourced from this site : militaryphotos.net. No photographer is credited on the site.
In July, Australian special forces and commando units were involved in a nine day long battle against the Taliban in Southern Afghanistan.
150 Taliban are reported to have been killed by the Australian teams, with six Australians suffering serious wounds during the fighting.
From news.com :
The Australian government is pulling at least one of its special forces teams out of Southern Afghanistan, even though the region has become one of the main battlegrounds in the 'War On Terror'."In the most intense battles since the Vietnam War, Diggers from the Special Forces Task Group used superior weapons and overwhelming airborne fire support from USAF AC-130 Hercules Spectre gunships.
Codenamed Operation Perth, the hardest fighting took place in July during search-and-destroy missions in the Chora district, about 40km northeast of the Australian base at Tarin Khowt, in southern Afghanistan.
During the year-long operation the three rotations of the task group have sustained 11 casualties, including several men seriously wounded.
One commando had part of his jaw blown off, another was shot in the buttocks and an SAS specialist was hit in the abdomen. Amazingly, the round missed his vital organs.
In one action, six commandos, including the company sergeant major, who sustained leg injuries, were wounded by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade.
...at the height of the battle, three AC-130 Spectre aircraft ran out of ammunition.
The task group includes a commando platoon of 50 men from the Sydney-based 4RAR and 40 SAS troopers from the unit's No.3 squadron. The 100 support soldiers include chemical weapons experts from the Incident Response Regiment.
Is this a sign that the Howard government is preparing to send special forces into Syria and/or Iran?
Go To 'The Orstrahyun' For The Full Story.
