SOLDIER'S DIARY:We have moved through what had been a no-go village and found it relatively benign
IT'S 2AM, and beneath a bright moon that illuminates the alleyways of the bazaar, the men of Ranger Company are preparing to enter the night. With hushed voices, radios are checked, equipment tested and weapons made ready. We move out at H Hour. Laden with kit and ladders, it requires special effort not to make noise.
Our mission is to clear what has until now been considered a hostile village called Haji Nisamadeen. It lies only 700m (2,300ft) from our base in Sangin, Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, but has been the scene of two improvised explosive device (IED) attacks on International Security Assistance Force troops in the past.
Using the cover of night, we move quickly through the deserted bazaar and along Highway 611, the most dangerous road in the world. 7 Platoon reaches the location where it is to set up its cordon and, assisted by the Afghan National Army (ANA), begins to enter empty compounds. A search of the first compound reveals nothing and the Rangers fan out on to the roof to get good observation arcs around the immediate vicinity.
I drop off two-thirds of the platoon at this location, leaving them under the care of the platoon sergeant, and move with one of my sections to another large building which dominates the area. We find the gate padlocked, so the engineers step forward to break the lock. We move inside. A darkened world of corridors, open doors and ransacked rooms awaits us. The Rangers clear room by room cautiously, torch beams following rifles into every blackened corner. "Compound clear," comes over the radio. We move up on to the roof just as the sun starts to rise.
As day comes, so does a greater appreciation of our surroundings. By Afghan standards we are in a palace. A 10-room, two-storey building with piped water and electrical fittings indicates that this was once the residence of a prosperous drug smuggler.
We start our search in earnest, and it is not long before we have a find. Two mobile phone boxes point to the building having been used by enemy "dickers". These are enemy fighters who pass on our movements to others or who call in mortar fire on to us.
Then we find a large bag of a greenish brown powder and some needles. About a kilo of heroin is held aloft in a soldier's hand. The Rangers are interested, as most of them haven't seen heroin before, and neither have I. We wonder how much it's worth as we scatter it over the porch and go back to the roof.
By now, the other platoon is in position as well. With the village effectively sealed off, the ANA begins to sweep through it, conducting what are known as soft knocks. This is a process of knocking on the villagers' doors, explaining who we are and what we are doing and asking to have a look around. The villagers comply, and the ANA searches the entire village in a couple of hours, far more quickly than we could manage ourselves.
With the village checked and cleared, and with the sun starting to cook our heads inside our helmets, the company begins to fold back into base. We have moved right through what had been a no-go village and found it relatively benign. Now, hopefully, we can start to improve their security and eventually encourage development that will benefit their daily lives. As if in repayment for our presence, some days later word comes of a possible IED buried in an alleyway in the area. We approach with caution and can just make out the ground sign that indicates a lethal trap awaits.
While we cordon and clear the compounds nearby, a specialist explosives team helicopters in. They confirm this is a complex device that would have killed a lot of us. Soon they have skilfully destroyed it with a controlled explosion. Nothing could highlight to us more that having the locals on side is key to staying alive in Sangin.
Lieut Paddy Bury from Wicklow remains on duty in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. His diary was not published for the past fortnight due to communication difficulties