Spc. Victor Bardales is treated for shrapnel wounds by medics Sgt. Joe Tapia, left, Sgt. Miles Boggs and Pfc. Nicholas Seay from an rocket-propelled grenade attack Saturday near Combat Outpost Nalgham, Afghanistan. (Laura Rauch/Stars and Stripes)
COMBAT OUTPOST NALGHAM, Afghanistan — For nearly two weeks, they had endured daily attacks, after which insurgents would melt away.
But those insurgents made a mistake, and U.S. snipers ensured it was fatal.
A sniper team killed two insurgents and wounded a third near a Taliban weapons cache and staging area in the Nalgham region of Kandahar province on Sunday according to U.S. forces and local Afghan nationals. Coalition forces had been tracking the insurgents using surveillance and reconnaissance assets for nearly two weeks before they fired on the site.
Snipers with C Company’s Scout platoon, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, positioned themselves after dark on Saturday in response to an attack from the area earlier that day. Intelligence sources anticipated that insurgents might return to the staging area at some point.
“They usually don’t repeat themselves like that. Actually, we were all surprised. They’re very good at not repeating themselves,” said Sgt. Paul Gorse, a sniper with Scout platoon.
Spc. Victor Bardales is treated for shrapnel wounds by medics Sgt. Joe Tapia, left, Sgt. Miles Boggs and Pfc. Nicholas Seay from an rocket-propelled grenade attack Saturday near Combat OutPost Nalgham, Afghanistan. (Laura Rauch/Stars and Stripes)
“Anytime you have a sniper kill, it’s such a devastating psychological blow to the enemy. It denies the enemy freedom of movement, it creates stress,” Gorse said.
“Every time we walk out there, we’re stressed out about IEDs. Now when they step out, they’re going to be worried about snipers.”
Combat Outpost Nalgham and its outer lying strong point have been attacked daily for the last week with indirect and small arms fire. Spc. Victor Bardales was evacuated from the strong point on Saturday after receiving shrapnel wounds from a rocket-propelled grenade attack.
