Successful Start to Latest Uruzgan Operation
Regional Command South - Afghanistan  URUZGAN, Afghanistan (April 28, 2011) - The latest operation by the Afghan National Army and their Australian mentors in Uruzgan is continuing to maintain pressure on the insurgency with the discovery of 40 cache finds in the first week of a current operation.  Operation Tiger’s Avalanche commenced on April 17 with the aim of clearing insurgents from the Kamisan Valley region of northern Uruzgan province.   The operation has been a success so far with the Afghan National Army and their Australian mentors locating 40 tactical caches in one week. These caches include 12 rifles, 17 RPG warheads and three RPG launchers, six radios, four grenades, several IED making components, explosives and bomb making manuals and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.   “Again the combined team of Afghan National Security Forces and coalition forces has surprised the insurgents and struck them a severe blow, in an area where they had thought themselves safe. The success of the operation is a great credit to the officers and soldiers of the 2nd Kandak (Battalion), 4th Brigade, Afghan National Army,” said Australian Lt. Col. Darren Huxley, commanding officer 2nd Mentoring Task Force.  Over the winter period, coalition forces in Uruzgan have focused operations on limiting the influence of the insurgents on the locals.  “The locals want peace. They have seen how governance and development follows security in other areas and they now want a life without violence,” said U.S. Army Col. James Creighton, commander of Combined Team Uruzgan.  This operation has been uncontested by the insurgents and adds to the recent security successes of combined operations in Uruzgan. Since April, 13 insurgent leaders have been captured and now, with the discovery of 40 tactical weapons caches in the Kamisam Valley, a known insurgent area, further pressure has been placed on the insurgents.  “The current series of deliberate operations throughout the spring has seized the initiative from the insurgency,” said Col. Dennis Malone, deputy commander of Combined Team Uruzgan. “Successful security operations have denied the insurgency cohesion, resupply and freedom of action. This has been reinforced with significant improvements in governance and development across Uruzgan and is noticeably turning the population away from the insurgents as they see an opportunity for a better quality of life if they support GIRoA and its initiatives.   “Hard work and careful planning throughout the winter and spring months has seen the Australian, United States and Afghan security forces expand across Uruzgan and made gains not experienced here before. The combined team is now well postured for continued success as we move into the fighting season.”