Operation Headstrong involved the training of Afghan commandos in a grouping called the Afghan Special Narcotics Force (ASNF) by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

special forces, including the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

, to seek out and destroy drug laboratories and to confiscate drug shipments. Britain later provided four helicopters for the ASNF's use. British assistance to the ASNF amounted to £6.23 million in 2005–6, £9.4 million in 2006–7, and £32.5 million in 2007–8.

Background

Britain was the lead nation on counternarcotics in the Bonn Agreement and began forming a counternarcotics force known as Task Force 333, which would attack labs processing opium into crystal heroin. Elite Afghan units were trained and mentored by members of the British SAS.

Operation

The operation, dubbed Operation Headstrong was launched on 2 January 2004 with a raid on a heroin lab in northern Badakhshan. By mid-2004, Force 333 had two operational units of 150 men each. One former Force 333 commander said that whenever the group hit a lab in the south of the country, they were guaranteed to get attacked, for example during a raid on a large lab in Bahramcha,

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto language, Pashto/Dari language, Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering ...

, the lab owner called the local Taliban subcommander who ambushed the force. The ambush was so vicious the commander had to call in US air support to suppress it.

References

Headstrong Headstrong Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United Kingdom 2004 in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) {{UK-mil-stub