Afghanistan — More success during latest Uruzgan operation

The Afghan Nation­al Army and their Aus­tralian men­tors in Uruz­gan con­tin­ue to main­tain pres­sure on insur­gents with the dis­cov­ery of 39 caches dur­ing an 11-day oper­a­tion known as Oper­a­tion TIGER’S AVALANCHE.

Oper­a­tion TIGER’S AVALANCHE, which com­menced on Sun­day 17 April 2011, aimed to clear insur­gents from the Kamisan Val­ley region of north­ern Uruzgan. 

Com­mand­ing Offi­cer Men­tor­ing Task Force – Two Lieu­tenant Colonel Dar­ren Hux­ley said the oper­a­tion was planned by his part­ners in the Afghan Nation­al Army’s 4th Brigade. 

“The suc­cess of the oper­a­tion is a great cred­it to the offi­cers and sol­diers of the 2nd Kan­dak, 4th Brigade, Afghan Nation­al Army,” Lieu­tenant Colonel Hux­ley said. 

“The com­bined team of Afghan Nation­al Secu­ri­ty Forces and ISAF part­ner forces has again sur­prised the insur­gents and struck a blow in an area they had thought them­selves safe.” 

Dur­ing the oper­a­tion, 39 caches were dis­cov­ered, includ­ing more than 2400 rounds of ammu­ni­tion, 33 rock­et-pro­pelled-grenade war­heads, 11 grenades, explo­sives, IED mak­ing com­po­nents, six radios and opi­um resin. 

Over the win­ter, ISAF part­ners in Uruz­gan have focused oper­a­tions on lim­it­ing the neg­a­tive influ­ence of insur­gents on local communities. 

Com­man­der Com­bined Team – Uruz­gan (CT‑U) US Army Colonel James Creighton said Oper­a­tion TIGER’S AVALANCHE was fur­ther evi­dence of the Afghan and ISAF com­mit­ment to pro­tect the local population. 

“The locals want peace. They have seen how gov­er­nance and devel­op­ment fol­lows secu­ri­ty in oth­er areas and they now want a life with­out vio­lence,” Colonel Creighton said. 

“The cur­rent series of delib­er­ate oper­a­tions through­out the spring has seized the ini­tia­tive from the insur­gency by deny­ing cohe­sion, resup­ply and free­dom of action, in the lead up to the 2011 fight­ing season. 

“These recent suc­cess­es have been rein­forced with improve­ments in gov­er­nance and devel­op­ment across Uruz­gan, which has turned the pop­u­la­tion away from the insur­gents as they see an oppor­tu­ni­ty for a bet­ter qual­i­ty of life through the sup­port of the Afghan Gov­ern­ment and its initiatives.” 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia 

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