Afghanistan: Fighting the Taliban
11-minutes, 2008
Ref: 658

It was an assault on Taliban forces dug-in amongst the hills and valleys - a mission that ended in a bloody three-hour battle. For this special report we accompanied the British marines up the Sangin valley in Afghanistan to the Kajaki Dam where we filmed the battle. There were many Taliban deaths and injuries but little apparent loss on the British side. It's very hard to determine what was achieved by the battle, territorially, morally or in terms of winning hearts and minds. The Kajaki Dam is the only power station in southern Afghanistan and provides electricity to 2 million people. But the turbines driven by the Kajaki dam - strategically and symbolically an important area - are high in the Sangin valley - the mountainous north of Helmand province - and a Taliban stronghold. This is visually as close to the frontline as you will get.