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Afghanistan continues....
The British began combat operations with US and allied Afghan forces on 16 April 2002 in Operation Ptarmigan, named for the northern bird known for camouflage. Operation Snipe, a two-week operation in the first half of May, was declared a success for having eliminated infrastructure and a ‘vast arsenal of weapons’ and for depriving the opposition of strategic assets that could be used later. While no enemies were killed or captured, British commander Brigadier Roger Lane said, ‘We have delivered a significant blow to the ability of Al-Qaeda to plan,mount and sustain terrorist operations in Afghanistan and beyond.’
Operation Condor began on 16 May 2002 with over 1,000 US and allied personnel and a similar number of Afghans attacking cave complexes along the Pakistani border. This manoeuvre demonstrated the need to deploy ground forces rather than to rely solely on US air power and indigenous ground troops. Throughout, however, British forces never engaged enemy forces directly.
With such an atypical conflict, the tactics on both sides necessarily diversified. Remnant Taleban and Al-Qaeda forces apparently distributed leaflets in early April 2002 offering up to US$50,000 for a captured Westerner and US$100,000 for a dead one. US commanders admitted that this tactic, similar to an American one, had won over Afghan fighters.
And while the US paid its Afghan fighters US$200 per month, substantially more than they could otherwise earn, the practice fuelled inter-Afghan rivalries.
To be continued...