Operation Herrick
Operation Herrick was the operational name for the British Armed Forces' operations during the War in Afghanistan, from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the multinational NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission for the purposes of local security, training and development, and support to the American-led Operation Enduring Freedom counterterrorism mission. After years in the field, Operation Herrick increased in size and breadth to match ISAF's growing geographical intervention in Afghanistan: British troops numbered 9,500 at its peak in 2010–2012. The operation has also been referred to as the Fourth Anglo-Afghan War.
Initially, the operation consisted mainly of security in Kabul and training of the Afghan National Army until it grew into a battalion when British troops took over the PRT for northern Afghanistan. As of 2004, there were some 400 British personnel in Afghanistan, rising to 900 in 2005. With the expansion of ISAF operations, over 3,000 British troops were deployed to the volatile, heroin-rich province of Helmand in southern Afghanistan from April 2006 to lead the local PRT, with Britain also on a leading role in counternarcotics. Intended to be a civilian reconstruction mission, British troops were unexpectedly forced to engage in heavy combat with Taliban militants who fiercely resisted their presence, fueled in part by local resentment from colonial-era conflict. Heavy fighting in the summer of 2006 during the Siege of Sangin was described as the fiercest the British army had faced since the Korean War. While there had only been five British fatalities in Afghanistan up until that point, in 2006 alone this number escalated to 39 deaths and kept increasing annually, peaking at over one hundred each in 2009 and 2010. Troop numbers during Operation Herrick rose to 8,000 in 2008 and later at over 9,000.
The UK began withdrawing throughout 2013, continuing until the last of its combat troops left Afghanistan on 27 October 2014. Following this, British military operations in Afghanistan focused on training as part of Operation Toral, the UK's contribution to the NATO Resolute Support Mission, which continued until the ultimate countrywide 2021 Taliban victory after the defeat of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. A total of 454 British personnel had died on operations in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, outnumbering the amount killed during the Iraq and Falklands wars. While British involvement in Afghanistan had solid support politically and from the public, there was criticism for strategic military failures of the Helmand campaign, its resulting death toll, and the lacklustre "war on opium".
Preceding operations
Operation Herrick superseded two previous efforts in Afghanistan which began in 2001: the first of these was Operation Veritas, an offensive combat operation of support during the United States invasion of Afghanistan that began in October 2001 and ended in July 2002, with the last major action being a sweep in east Afghanistan by 1,700 Royal Marines during Operation Jacana. The second was Operation Fingal, a peacekeeping mission for safety and security in Kabul that Britain along with nineteen other countries contributed to. Led by Major General John McColl, the UK was for its initial six months the leading ISAF force, with a contribution of 2,000 troops in the mission. Command was subsequently transferred to NATO ally Turkey as of June 2002, and the British contingent was scaled back to 300. After this point, all British combat operations in Afghanistan were conducted under Operation Herrick. Overall, there had been one British casualty before Herrick, namely Lance Corporal Darren George who suffered an accidental death during a security patrol caused by another British soldier.Strategy
The goals of the UK and its allies in Afghanistan, as set in the UN mandate, was the development of Afghan institutions and protection of it and the local populace from Taliban insurgents, as well as ensuring that al-Qaeda do not regain a foothold in the country for the purpose of terrorism against Britain and other countries. In addition, then Prime Minister Tony Blair also cited the farming of opium, with 90% of heroin drugs in Britain's streets originating from Afghanistan, which Blair cited as another reason for supporting the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.It was the UK Government's position that the UK could not disengage from Afghanistan and so retained an active military presence until December 2014 because of the continued terrorist threat facing Britain and the world. Building a strong Afghan state is a long and difficult task. The Liberal–Conservative coalition government declared that Afghanistan was the UK's top foreign policy priority.
Despite being the UK's largest operational military deployment as of 2008, the BBC described the operation in Iraq at the time as "by far the most high profile UK commitment overseas".
Kabul & Northern Afghanistan
Between 2002 and 2003, the primary component of Herrick remained the 300 personnel providing security in Kabul and training to the new Afghan National Army. In mid-2003, the operation became battalion strength when a provincial reconstruction team was established in Mazari Sharif and in Maymana. The UK also provided a rapid reaction force for the area.Overall command of the PRTs was transferred to ISAF in 2004. Sweden and Norway took over these PRTs in 2005 and 2006 respectively to allow the UK to focus on south Afghanistan. In early 2006, the NATO Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps became the headquarters of ISAF for a year. The attached British infantry and signals personnel raised the number of troops based in Kabul to 1,300.
Kandahar
In 2004, a detachment of six Royal Air Force fighters from Joint Force Harrier was based at Kandahar Airfield to support American OEF forces there. A planned withdrawal in mid-2006 was postponed to provide air support for the new ISAF expansion across the south. The force was later reinforced with more Harriers and an RAF Regiment squadron. The Harriers were withdrawn in 2009 and replaced by a Panavia Tornado GR4 squadron on rotation.On 2 September 2006, a Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR2 patrol aircraft, serial number XV230 supporting Canadian forces in Operation Medusa crashed near Kandahar, killing all 14 service members aboard. The cause was related to fuel lines.
4 more Harrier GR9s were committed in May 2007 bringing them to a total of eleven, along with an extra C130 transport plane and four Westland Sea Kings from the Fleet Air Arm. Harriers have been succeeded by Tornados. Merlin and Chinook helicopters are also based there.
The majority of aircraft deployed for Herrick were based at Kandahar.
Helmand
Mission
In January 2006, Defence Secretary John Reid announced the UK would send a PRT with several thousand personnel to Helmand, in southern Afghanistan, for at least three years. This had been planned as part of the gradual expansion of ISAF's area of responsibility from the Kabul region to the rest of Afghanistan. An initial strength of 5,700 personnel in Afghanistan was planned, which would stabilise to around 4,500 for the rest of the deployment.The move was to be a coordinated effort with other NATO countries to relieve the predominantly American OEF presence in the south. To this end, the Netherlands and Canada would lead similar deployments in Oruzgan and Kandahar respectively. Several other countries would support this move with troops. In the case of Helmand, Denmark sent 750 troops while Estonia would increase their Helmand force to 150 soldiers, altogether called Task Force Helmand.
Helmand was a volatile region with local conflicts over drugs and land, and where the Afghan army were "non-existent". Local Taliban figures voiced opposition to the incoming British force and pledged to resist it. Ashraf Ghani, the Kabul University chancellor at the time, reportedly told a British planner in 2005 that there could be no worse peacekeeping force sent to Helmand than the UK, due to local sensitivity and its proximity to the site of the 1880 Battle of Maiwand, predicting a "bloodbath" as a result. Locals and Taliban propaganda called the British presence in Helmand the 'Fourth Anglo-Afghan War', viewing it as colonial Brits returning with "vengenance" for Victorian era defeats. In 2009, MP Bernard Jenkins, during a parliamentary debate on Afghanistan and Pakistan, described the 2006 deployment to Helmand as "one of the most ill-judged and ill-conceived military deployments of modern decades".
Activities
Before the main deployment, the Royal Engineers constructed a central fortification, Camp Bastion, to serve as a main base. A camp for an Afghan force was built nearby. On 1 May, the US OEF force was relieved in a ceremony. At the same time, the United States began a major offensive, Operation Mountain Thrust, against the insurgency in south Afghanistan. This brought ISAF forces into open conflict with the Taliban.British forces originally tried to provide security to reconstruction, but instead became engaged in combat. Platoon houses were soon established in northern settlements, due to pressure from the provincial governor for an aggressive stance. However, these quickly became a focus for heavy fighting. One of these was in Sangin, which was cut off and surrounded by the Taliban in early July. Eleven soldiers were killed in Sangin District over the subsequent period. On 16 July, with support from American and Canadian forces, 200 paratroopers were airlifted to take the town.
In early August, 500 paratroopers and Afghan National Army soldiers were airlifted to Musa Quala after violence flared around the platoon house. One British soldier was killed in the battle. On 25 August, several hundred soldiers were involved in a second operation to escort a group of Afghan policemen as a show of force.
The Taliban made direct assaults on the British-held compounds, attacking with small arms fire, RPGs, and mortar rounds at short range. The British responded with airstrikes and artillery, often aimed right outside their compound walls, in what became a close quarters battle.
Casualties increased on both sides, with many more Taliban casualties as their assault had exposed them to the full scope of NATO's heavier firepower. Numbers of civilian casualties and damage to local infrastructure increased. The NATO forces grew increasingly concerned that they were alienating residents with heavy-handed tactics, in spite of their intention to win "hearts and minds". It was also becoming clear that the British did not have the number of troops and helicopters to sustain the platoon house strategy indefinitely under the circumstances. Realising that the situation could not carry on unchanged, British commanders approached local tribal leaders to organise a temporary ceasefire.
Through pressure from the local tribal elders and their mounting casualties, the Taliban agreed to withdraw from the contested towns at the same time as the British, having been unable to realise their goal of forcibly expelling the foreign troops. NATO estimated Taliban losses over the summer period to be around 1,000 killed in Helmand alone.
The British commander, Brigadier Ed Butler, later said the deal had come just 48 hours before Musa Quala was planned to be abandoned because of the risks support helicopters were taking. As a result of the deal, British forces peacefully withdrew from the settlement in mid October.
The truce drew criticism from American commanders who believed it showed a sign of weakness on NATO's part. The deal would again be called into question when the Taliban retook the town of Musa Qala by surprise in February 2007, following the killing of a leading commander in an American airstrike. The town was eventually retaken by British and Afghan forces.
By late September, 31 British soldiers had died in Afghanistan over the year. Corporal Mark Wright, was posthumously awarded the George Cross and Corporal Bryan Budd was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the British Armed Forces' highest awards for gallantry. Brigadier Butler declared the Taliban to have been "tactically defeated" for the time being.