Siege of Sangin The Siege of Sangin was a British - led military operation that lasted between June 2006 and April 2007 , during which time Taliban insurgents besieged the district centre of Sangin District in Helmand Province , Afghanistan , occupied by British ISAF soldiers . During the siege , fighting became intensive , causing General David J . Richards , the NATO commander in Afghanistan , to declare that Helmand province had seen the fiercest fighting involving British troops since the Korean War . It became emblematic of the difficulty of the mission being carried out by British soldiers in Afghanistan , who nicknamed it " Sangingrad " ( in reference to the battle of Stalingrad ) . Situation in Sangin . Sangin , a town of 30 , 000 inhabitants in Helmand province , is situated in a " green zone " , a fertile agricultural area . It is well - known for opium production and Taliban activity . The opposition to the Afghan government and to the presence of foreign troops came from a mix of Taliban , local tribesmen and drug traffickers , who were afraid that ISAF troops might destroy their opium poppy crops . Before the British deployment , the area was believed to be under complete Taliban control . Several incidents involving coalition troops had already occurred in that sector : on June 13 , a U . S . convoy was ambushed north of Sangin , on the road to Musa Qala . A Company , 3rd Battalion , the Parachute Regiment , were called into the town to protect the convoy , but they withdrew after only 24 hours presence . In late June , under pressure from President Hamid Karzai , the decision was taken to deploy British troops in Sangin to enforce the authority of the Afghan government . This represented an important change from the " inkspot " strategy that had been carried out previously around Lashkar Gah . The siege . A Company was called in to secure Sangin on June 25 , 2006 after the Taliban had killed 5 civilians on June 18 , accusing them of working for the government , and a further 27 shortly afterwards when the relatives went to collect the bodies . The " district centre " ( DC ) , a run - down compound half a mile from the town centre , became a base for some 120 British troops . It also housed the local government offices , and an Afghan police force . The position was strengthened with rudimentary fortifications consisting of foxholes dug round the perimeter and sandbag s reinforcing the compound walls . At first there was no contact with the Taliban , and the attitude of the inhabitants was passive , if not sympathetic to the presence of British troops , who were able to patrol the city safely . The situation changed abruptly on June 27 , after a failed raid by the Special Reconnaissance Regiment , during which two soldiers were killed not far from Sangin . The attitude of the locals changed suddenly , and the base was attacked soon after with small arms . Taliban attacks increased to five or six a day , including fire from RPG - 7 anti - tank rocket launchers . With all roads cut , the district centre was effectively under siege , and wholly dependent on helicopter flights from Camp Bastion for resupply . This was sometimes interrupted for as long as five days , as Taliban fire would have put the helicopters at risk . A unit of Royal Engineers surrounded the whole compound and the helicopter landing pad with a double rampart of Hesco barriers , despite Taliban fire . On July 1 , two signallers , Corporal Peter Thorpe and Lance Corporal Jabron Hashmi , and an Afghan interpreter , who were listening in to Taliban communications , were killed when a Chinese - made 107mm rocket hit the district centre . Hashmi was the first British Muslim soldier to die during the War on Terror . Each attack was repulsed , as British troops posted on the DC rooftop directed fire from artillery , mortars and airstrikes from attack helicopters and jets against the Taliban , inflicting heavy losses . The situation worsened when the Afghan policemen began defecting to the Taliban , giving them inside information about the layout of the base . Operation Mountain Thrust . On July 16 , during Operation Mountain Thrust , 200 British paratroops , supported by Apache helicopters , were inserted by Chinook into Sangin . In a concerted attack with the troops stationed there , they were able to break the siege of the District Centre . They were supported by 700 coalition troops , including American , Canadian , Afghan and Estonian forces . In a cordon and search operation , the town was sealed off and Taliban compounds were searched and cleared . Ten Taliban were confirmed killed during this operation , and the others were driven out . The operation weakened the Taliban hold on the city , but did not break it , and the district centre was soon under attack again . Continued fighting . On August 20 , a 20 - man group of paratroopers was clearing a compound when they were ambushed by the Taliban . A section led by Corporal Bryan Budd counterattacked and Budd himself killed two enemy fighters , but the section was forced to withdraw under heavy fire , with two men injured . It was only later that the platoon commander realized that Budd was missing , but rescuing him proved impossible due to heavy fire from the Taliban . The company commander , Major Jamie Loden , organised a relief force , cobbled together from various units , including elements of the Royal Engineers and two Royal Military Police men who happened to be in Sangin . Supported by the fire of two Apache helicopters , the British finally rescued Budd an hour after he had been hit , but it was too late to save him , and he died of his injuries . For his bravery during this action , Corporal Budd was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross , the highest distinction in the British armed forces . The paratroopers were later replaced by Lima Company , 42 Commando Royal Marines and then C Company , 2nd Battalion Light Infantry who then spent a relatively peaceful 3 months in the District Centre . The situation then flared once more as the handover between C Company and Mike Company 42 Commando RM commenced . A vicious spike in the violence took place , with 29 Commando ' s Fire Support Teams , ( then providing fire support to the infantry ) sustaining 3 killed in action in less than a week . Mike Company ' s short but bloody tenure saw them relieved in March 2007 by C Company Group , 2nd Battalion , Royal Regiment of Fusiliers . In their first twenty days in Sangin , the fusiliers were attacked 79 times . Relief of Sangin . In April 2007 , more than 1 , 000 international forces took part in Operation Silver , with the objective of relieving Sangin . NATO gave advance warning of the coming assault by dropping leaflets , and through the town elders , who were charged with spreading the word . U . S . troops from 1st Battalion , 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment , 82nd Airborne Division launched a heliborne assault at various locations approximately 5 kilometers south of the district center . Augmented with elements of the Afghan National Army , 1 - 508 assaulted north and pursued enemy forces to positions north and east of the district center . Simultaneously , a column of armoured transports with 250 Royal Marines from 42 Commando attacked from the north . Danish and Estonian soldiers also participated , and fire - support was provided by Dutch and American aircraft , and by Canadian artillery . On April 5 , coalition troops occupied Sangin , meeting only light resistance , as the town had been mostly vacated by the Taliban , and abandoned by most of its inhabitants . Though Taliban groups still operated in surrounding areas , the Afghan civil authorities were able to return , marking the end of the siege . The governor of Helmand province appointed a new local governor , and a permanent ANA base was established in the town .