NATO Troops in Afghanistan Combat Revived Taliban

RAY SUAREZ:

Now, the intensifying war in Afghanistan, five years after the American-led coalition ousted the Taliban. Recently, NATO allies took over a peacekeeping operation there, but it has turned into full-scale combat against a revived Taliban, especially for British, Canadian and Dutch troops. Some of the heaviest combat has been in Helmand Province in the south.

From the town of Musa Qala, we have a report from Kylie Morris of Independent Television News.

KYLIE MORRIS, ITV News Correspondent:

Britain on the attack in Afghanistan. These are the soldiers who the British government sent hoping they'd not have to fire a single shot. In fact, here in Helmand, they fire thousands of rounds daily.

Over the summer, this became a conflict where British forces spent ammunition at a faster rate than at any time since the Second World War. Moments like these in Nousa, a town in the north, show just how torrid the fighting has been.

For three months, the Royal fusiliers were left in a so-called platoon house to prevent the Taliban taking over the town's center. They registered 149 contacts in 107 days, meaning they came under fire and returned fire at an extraordinary rate.

MAJ. JONATHAN SWIFT, Royal Fusiliers:

The way we were employing ourselves, that had the effect that we were trying to achieve on the enemy, and that is to disrupt their operations and not allow them to try and take hold of the district compounds.

And these district compounds are a focus for the development, the future development of these towns. And it's important that the coalition help those district compounds for the future, and that's exactly what we did.