VIDEO: Helicopter assault starts latest phase of attack on Taliban

This latest assault which is part of Operation PANCHAI PALANG, or Panther's Claw, was part of a strategic push to flush the insurgents out of towns and villages in order to secure them for Afghanistan's Presidential and Provincial elections taking place next month.

The air assault, launched under the cover of darkness and involving four Chinooks and two Apache helicopters, also resulted in the discovery of a large narcotics laboratory in which the soldiers found 750kg of a precursor base chemical required to create heroin and 5kg of a morphine derivative substance.

After securing the site north of Lashkar Gah, and handing it over to Afghan-led counter narcotics police the 140 soldiers from 3 SCOTS continued their advance to clear the land ahead and push north to meet with the Light Dragoon's Battlegroup, who had been working their way down from the Nahr e Burgha canal for the previous two weeks.

Operation PANCHAI PALANG began in June 2009 with the Welsh Guards Battlegroup securing several crossing points along the Shamalan canal and 3 SCOTS doing the same along the Nahr e Burgha.

In doing so they created a 'gated community' allowing freedom of movement for local people but making the movement of insurgents difficult and crucially cutting off their supply routes.

The Light Dragoons Battlegroup moved across the region both on foot and in armoured vehicles, and encountered heavy and prolonged fighting from compounds along the way held by insurgents.

The fighting paid off however, and on the 15 July the 3 SCOTS Battlegroup and The Light Dragoons met up, linking the two areas they have cleared and consolidating their control of a large area of previously Taliban-dominated ground.

The troops met with locals who welcomed the British and Afghan troops. On several occasions they told of how the insurgents had stolen all of their food. One 16-year-old boy spoke of being tortured by the Taliban after they caught him making a telephone call to his family in Lashkar Gah and accused him of spying for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said:

"It is sometimes difficult for us to convey exactly what progress is being made on the ground. But this operation is an important leap forward for the future of Helmand Province. We are taking the fight to the enemy and we are winning.

"The insurgents have controlled this territory for some time, with thousands of people living under their oppressive regime. The enemy are standing and fighting back vehemently against us. It isn't easy, and it won't happen overnight, but we are clearing the area and we are seeing locals, who had been living in fear of the Taliban, starting to return. Provincial Reconstruction Teams are already beginning to move into the cleared areas.

"The only way to do the job properly is build incrementally on the progress that we have made, gradually expanding our area of influence and that is precisely what we are doing."

The UK led Operation PANCHAI PALANG, with Danish, Estonian and US contingents, focuses on the heavily populated area between Gereshk, the economic hub of Helmand, and Lashkar Gah, the Provincial capital.

As the areas are secured, reconstruction and development will follow to allow the local people to become self-sufficient and, ultimately, protected by their own security forces without help from the ISAF.

Throughout the operation the Afghan National Security Forces have also been a component of the fighting force, mentored by 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment. They have led in the search of numerous compounds and, together with the Afghan National Police, are helping to man the checkpoints at the recently captured crossings. They have proved vital in interacting with the local population, explaining the mission and providing reassurance.