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Pure hell of the siege of Musa Qala A little-reported battle against the Taliban in which seven of our (Poster's note: "our" means British, the Royal Irish Brigade troops) troops died has been revealed as one of the fiercest and most heroic of the Afghan campaign. Lieutenant-Colonel DJ Reynolds Musa Qala, a besieged outpost deep in Taliban territory, holds a special place in the battle records of the Pathfinder platoon of 16 Air Assault Brigade – and of the Irishmen, Danes and other soldiers who braved face-to-face fighting to relieve them. When a column at last got through to Musa...

8/13/2007 - PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Airmen from the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team and Afghan National Police recently roughed each other up here with a little hand-to-hand combat, but all for the sake of training. Teaching pressure point control tactics to the Afghan police in the Anaba district helps increase the local government's capacity for security, governance and development, said Tech. Sgt. Michael Downey, security forces superintendent and PRT police training and assessment team member. It's also a deterrent to "the bad guys" who might be watching. "Every day these guys patrol the streets," said Sergeant Downey, who is...

(IsraelNN.com) IDF soldiers have killed dozens of Hizbullah terrorist guerillas in face-to-face combat as troops progress toward controlling villages in southern Lebanon, Ground Force Major General Benny Gantz said at a press conference several minutes ago. He emphasized that all of the area is not yet under IDF control and that troops still are fighting against Hizbullah terrorists.

A BRITISH soldier who led a perilous bayonet charge on rebels in Iraq has revealed details of bloody hand-to-hand fighting in enemy trenches. Corporal Mark Byles, 34, who will receive a bravery award for his service in Iraq, spoke publicly for the first time this week of the battle that left three heavily armed insurgents dead. Cpl Byles, of Portsmouth, England, said: "I slashed people, rifle-butted them. I was punching and kicking. It was either me or them. "It felt like I was in a dream. It didn't seem real. Anybody can pull a trigger from a distance, but I...

WITH BAYONETS ATTACHED, THEY FINISHED OFF THE ENEMY WHO HAD NOT RUN AWAY.. May 21 2004 SCOTS TELL OF CHARGE By Keith Mcleod And Michael Christie SCOTS soldiers last night told how they launched a bayonet charge on Iraqi militiamen after hours of battle. An Army insider last night gave the Record an insight into the bravery of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. They were forced to use 'cold steel' as supplies of ammunition ran low. Many of the militiamen turned and fled but the close-quarters fighting left around 20 rebels dead. Thirty-five of Shia Moslem cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's followers...

OUTNUMBERED British soldiers killed 35 Iraqi attackers in the Army’s first bayonet charge since the Falklands War 22 years ago. The fearless Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders stormed rebel positions after being ambushed and pinned down. Despite being outnumbered five to one, they suffered only three minor wounds in the hand-to-hand fighting near the city of Amara. The battle erupted after Land Rovers carrying 20 Argylls came under attack on a highway. After radioing for back-up, they fixed bayonets and charged at 100 rebels using tactics learned in drills. Charge ... tactics from drills When the fighting ended bodies lay all...

May 16, 2004 Go UK!!!!! First Bayonet Charge since the Falklands War British troops in Iraq perform their first bayonet charge since the Falklands War. 35 insurgents were killed, while only 3 British troops were wounded. Isn't it ironic that only a few days after Nick Berg was beheaded, that the same terrorist scum feel cold steel themselves. Turn about is fair play. From Scotland on Sunday Paper Argylls fight hand to hand in Iraq BRIAN BRADY WESTMINSTER EDITOR SCOTTISH troops fixed bayonets and fought hand to hand with a Shi’ite militia in southern Iraq in one of their fiercest...

OUTNUMBERED British soldiers killed 35 Iraqi attackers in the Army’s first bayonet charge since the Falklands War 22 years ago. The fearless Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders stormed rebel positions after being ambushed and pinned down. Despite being outnumbered five to one, they suffered only three minor wounds in the hand-to-hand fighting near the city of Amara. The battle erupted after Land Rovers carrying 20 Argylls came under attack on a highway. After radioing for back-up, they fixed bayonets and charged at 100 rebels using tactics learned in drills. When the fighting ended bodies lay all over the highway — and...

OUR LIBERATORS: Iraqi youngsters greet the US tank column in BaghdadBLASTED: Shattered tank at roadsideFLYING ALONG: The column has a choice: Baghdad city centre or airportDESTROYED: Tanks pass blazing lorrySUICIDE ATTACK: Bullets rip through car which tried to ram the tank columnIT MISSED: The car - perhaps loaded with explosives - rams central barrier DNA TEAM IN HUNT FOR SADDAM SPECIAL forces operating in Baghdad have mobile DNA testing kits to instantly confirm the capture of Saddam Hussein. British and American intelligence are convinced the dictator is still alive and want to capture or kill him to emphasise a...

<p>The U.S. incursion was not an attempt to capture large sections of Baghdad, which remained under tenuous Iraqi government control. Rather, said Air Force Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart, "it was a clear statement of the ability of coalition forces to move into Baghdad at the time and place of their choosing."</p>

In this cat-and-mouse war, the sniper is king By Gethin Chamberlain, with the Black Watch, near Basra 31 March 2003 It was the tank crew who spotted them first, four men in civilian clothing jumping out of the back of a pick-up truck carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher in the heart of Zubayr. Corporal Mark Harvey was the first of the snipers to react, dropping to his knee and fixing the man carrying the RPG in his sights, one shot, a moving target, the militia man dropping like a stone, dead before he hit the ground. A clean shot to...

CIVILIANS have fought with axes and knives against Saddam Hussein's heavily-armed militiamen during an uprising in Basra, an Iraqi opposition group has said. The "Iraq Headquarters" of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress (INC), located in Kurdish-held northern Iraq, said it had received reports from "field officers" by satellite phone. "Civilians fought with axes and knives against Saddam's Fedayeen", who used mainly mortars and Kalashnikov rifles, an INC spokesman said. There were casualties, but no figures were available, he added. Saddam's Fedayeen, a paramilitary militia which according to the British military has 1000 men in Basra, is headed by the Iraqi...

COMBAT REPORTS - March 26 2003 1833 GMT - An Iraqi opposition group reports that hand-to-hand combat with bayonets has broken out between Basra civilians and Fedayeen forces. The combat reportedly started in the area facing Al Gazizah (Al-Ma'qal) Hayy Tariq that stretches to Basra University. The uprising is expected to extend to Al Amarah, according to a communique sent to United Press International.

In our sights ... Desert Rats and tanks mass near Basra yesterday Pictures: TERRY RICHARDS & BRIAN ROBERTS From NICK PARKER with the British Army Field HQ, southern Iraq SADDAM’S henchmen fled in terror as the Desert Rats closed in on Basra with tanks yesterday. Dozens of bloodthirsty thugs loyal to the tyrant were killed as warplanes blitzed three of their official buildings — paving the way for the British advance. Survivors of the precision strikes ran for their lives from the rubble as the 7th Armoured Brigade swept in to end their reign of fear for good in...