EXCLUSIVE: British soldiers were caught in a tense situation against the Taliban in Afghanistan, and had to resort to brutal measures to keep their lives and eliminate targets
A senior member of the Special Boat Service (SBS) killed a Taliban gunman by crushing his skull with a car battery while saying the life of a fellow commando, the Daily Star Sunday can reveal.
The SBS operator was forced to use the battery as a weapon after his weapon jammed during a close quarter battle in 2010.
The incident occurred during a desperate firefight in Southern Afghanistan when a squad of SBS operators were ambushed by insurgents inside a remote compound. The eight man special forces unit had planned to take over the large compound to carry out surveillance on a high value target believed to have been a senior Taliban commander.
But the plan descended into chaos when a group of Taliban fighters stormed the compound. The SBS troopers shot dead several of the insurgents as they entered the compound before hand to hand fighting took place.
A source told Daily Star Sunday: “The SBS have a saying which is that no plan survives contact with the enemy and this was a classic example of that. The Taliban stormed into the compound by driving through the gates in a 4×4 vehicle.
“The driver was shot dead as the vehicle entered and several others were dropped immediately. The plan must have been to take the SBS prisoner rather than kill them.
“There was hand to hand fighting taking place everywhere. The SBS didn’t have time to change weapon magazines so they started using knives, spades, rifle butts, lumps of wood, stone and even a hand axe. It was like a scene from a medieval battle.
“One of the senior SBS operators had just killed an insurgent and saw that one of his colleagues was lying on the ground fighting off two enemy gunmen. That’s when he picked up a disused car battery and crushed the skill of one of the Taliban, killing him instantly.
“The other Taliban fighter immediately surrendered and was eventually taken prisoner. Once the tables began to turn, the Taliban fighters fled on foot and escaped.”
The source said that the battle lasted no more than 10 minutes and all of the SBS operators were wounded but none seriously. The senior SBS operator who killed the Taliban fighter with the car battery was one of several members of the regiment who received a gallantry award at the end of the six month operation.
The source added: “The operation was a close-run thing but it’s now part of regimental mythology.” The Ministry of Defence does not comment on special forces.
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