BF2S Forums Progress in Afghanistan

BBC wrote:

In one of their biggest operations in Helmand, a convoy of 100 vehicles took five days to move the massive sections of the turbine 180km (112 miles).

The $6m (£3.4m) turbine will mean the Kajaki power station can bring power to an extra 1.9 million people.

British forces were helped by 2,000 Nato and Afghan troops.

The operation was part of a development project which has been planned for two years. The convoy travelled the length of the Helmand river valley - through areas insurgents have controlled for more than two years - carrying seven 20-30 tonne sections.

A spokesman said it was the largest route clearance operation the British military has carried out since World War II.

Around 1,000 other Nato troops from the US, Australia, Denmark and Canada were involved and 1,000 Afghan soldiers protected the turbine through one of the most dangerous parts of the journey.

Canadian forces took the convoy on the first leg late at night on Wednesday 27 August.
   
The sections were surrounded by layers of steel to make them look like ordinary containers

Map: Key points on route

They moved out from Kandahar airbase along the main highway and up the Helmand valley to a meeting point in the desert where British forces took over responsibility.

It was slow going from there, where the road is little more than a dirt track.

Hundreds of British and American special forces troops went in first, sweeping through the green zone of trees, fields, deep irrigation ditches and high-walled compounds where the Taleban are concentrated.

Although it is impossible to verify, British commanders estimated they killed more than 200 insurgents - without any losses or injuries to Nato soldiers - in heavy fighting which included artillery fire and air strikes.