In recent action in Afghanistan, NATO forces have killed as many as 200 Taliban fighters in a battle lasting ten days.  In one interesting note about this battle:

NATO and Afghan forces began an operation Sept. 2 after warning civilians to leave the area and dropping leaflets promising the Taliban safe passage out if they gave up their weapons.

There were several pockets where the Taliban concentrated their fighters on either side of the river – at Sperwan, Pashmul and Siah Jui – and NATO deployed forces from the south, north and east in a pincer movement.

More NATO forces guarded the western and southern flanks to cut supply and escape routes.

The commander of U.S forces in southern Afghanistan, Colonel R. Stephen Williams, 46, joined the battle four days later. He gathered Canadian, American and Afghan forces for an attack on Pashmul on Sept. 12.

After wearing the Taliban down for six days with rock music blaring across the river valley, and artillery and airstrikes, they found a weak spot in the Taliban’s defenses.

Playing his favorite music, AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” to hide the sound of the armored vehicles, Williams took the Taliban by surprise, crossing the river and driving through the cornfields from the northeast.

The fighting was intense over a day and a half. The Taliban were dug in at vineyards with deep irrigation channels and high, mud-wall barns for drying grapes. The village school, a cluster of white painted classrooms, built with American aid money in the past four years, was destroyed by repeated air and artillery strikes.

“The Taliban used this as a weapons cache and their command-and-control place,” Williams said.

The Taliban pulled out under the attack in groups, leaving small numbers of men to delay the NATO advance. Williams calculated from battlefield reports that his force alone killed 150 to 200 insurgents in 10 days of fighting, and only had 4 men wounded on their side.

Our allies, friends and colleagues ‘down under’ should “get a kick” out of this (hint for those who do not know, AC/DC is an Australian band).  Before the U.S. had troops in Afghanistan post-9/11, Australia did.  They have been our ally through thick and thin.  Now, AC/DC works with the Australian special forces to defeat the Taliban.

In honor of Williams’ battle, I am posting a link to AC/DC’s “Back in Black.”   Hmmm … I wonder what speakers they used and how many watts it took?  AC/DC versus the Taliban: I think I’ll post this in my “Weapons and Tactics” category.

AC/DC, “Back in Black“