Brits get caught in Taliban daisy chain IED ambush

From the Sunday Telegraph:

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The Taliban watched and waited. As the British soldiers entered the area, the insurgents detonated a massive bomb. The impact was devastating. The blast ripped off the right leg of an 18-year-old soldier, peppering his face and body with shrapnel. Nine other bombs, known as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), exploded almost simultaneously.

The patrol, composed of members of the Royal Irish Regiment and the Afghan National Army, had walked into a "daisy chain" ambush. As the soldiers crawled in the dust towards their wounded colleague, the Taliban raked the area with volley after volley of machine-gun fire.

Back at the British base outside Musa Qala, two miles down the valley, the radio burst into life. "Contact – with casualties. Wait out." The operations room fell silent. It was the message every soldier dreads.

The severely injured ranger was dragged to safety as the Taliban melted away into the countryside. Tourniquets were used to stem the blood loss and morphine helped to dull the burning pain. Despite the ferocity of the attack, there were no other casualties.

The soldier was rushed back to base, where Capt David Cooper, the battle group doctor, saved his life using techniques not yet practised in civilian hospitals. It later emerged that the young ranger was due to return to the UK for a two-week break, to visit his pregnant girlfriend. Such is the reality of life for British soldiers fighting an increasingly bitter counter-insurgency war on the front line in Helmand province, where 8,000 British troops are based.

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There is much more, but the story drifts into the theme that Obama's visit is reminding people of the forgotten war. In reality it is probably reminding Obama who appears to be completely ignorant of warfare and military history and not too interested in learning any.

While this attack was a personal tragedy for the wounded soldier, it seems remarkably ineffective from a military perspective especially considering all the efforts the Taliban went to. The Taliban has to resort to booby traps becaue its forces have been so inveffective in combat with coalition forces in Afghanistan and it can no longer sustain the casualties it has endured to date.