From the Afghan Front

I am going to try to paste a post from Seraph I from the Albawaba.com Forum. You don't get this kind of information very often. Here goes.












taliban popped from 1 mile away
Author: Seraph1 Date: 08-08-09 14:07
Crackshot squaddie kills Taliban warlord from one mile away Glad they're on our side. Well done, gentlemen! Corporal Christopher Reynolds shot the high profile Afghan drug baron dead during ferocious fighting, notching up the longest range confirmed kill in Afghanistan. The 25-year-old waited on a shop rooftop in southern Afghanistan for three days to take out the top-level Taliban commander - called Musa - who co-ordinated dozens of attacks against British and US soldiers. Cpl Reynolds, of 3 Scots, The Black Watch, has already killed 32 other Taliban fighters during some of the hardest fighting of the Afghan campaign. His comrade, Sergeant Daniel Buist, carried out another amazing attack on the Taliban. He killed one of their snipers - who spoke with a Birmingham accent - who was shooting from a tiny hole in a wall more than half a mile away.( snipers killing snipers is the acme of the craft) Cpl Reynolds, from Dalgety Bay, in Fife, took out his target from more than 1500 metres away. He said: "We were in a bazaar in Babaji for days in some very heavy fighting and had taken up a position on a shop roof to observe the surrounding area. From the first few minutes after we landed, we came into contact with the enemy. Trajectory "We were taking fire all the time. We were observing down the valley and I saw a group of five Taliban. I identified one straightaway as the commander because I watched him through the scope and when he spoke on the radio, the other one would do what he said. "I saw that he had a weapon, an AK47. We did all the calculations for range, windspeed and all that. I have to admit the first round landed next to him. We were so far away that he didn't even realise he was being shot at. "We changed our aim and when I took into account different factors like the trajectory of the bullet, my gun scope was actually aiming at the top of a doorway. I fired and the bullet went off, coming down and hitting him in the chest. "He dropped straight away into the arms of a fighter behind him. "The guy just panicked and dropped the leader and ran away. "He had been given a lead sleeping tablet. I was quite proud of that shot - it is the longest recorded kill in Afghanistan. I am going to use that fact as a chat-up line in the pub when I get back home." Lance Corporal David Hatton, 20, from Castlemilk, serves alongside Cpl Reynolds. He said: "We had been in position for three days when he made that shot. I was the spotter on that job and I was giving him the information about the target. "He did a top job that day - but we are all sick about him going on about it and telling us what a great shot he is." Another Scots soldier in the same unit, Sergeant Daniel Buist, carried out another amazing feat using a state-of-the-art Javelin missile launcher which costs pounds 70,000 each time its fired. Sergeant Buist used his Javelin to kill a sniper who was shooting through a tiny hole half a mile away in the bandit country around Babaji. He said: "The guy was getting more accurate with every shot and his bullets were starting to land among my guys' feet. "We could hear through our communications gear that he was speaking English at times. It was thought that he could have been a Brit as he may have had what sounded like a Brummie accent. Smoke "We got in touch with our snipers who told us that he was using a wall with a hole dug through it, to shoot at us. "He had made a mistake when he fired and a puff of smoke appeared from the wall. I could see the shape of his head and shoulders and the outline of his gun. "I fired and the missile went straight through the hole that the Taliban had cut out the wall to fire from. "It was a real bullseye. The missile never even did any damage to the other wall - it just took out our target. "A patrol later went to the position and confirmed the kill. There was nothing left but a lot of blood and rags. The remains had been dragged away by other Taliban. It can be gruesome but I had to stop that guy from taking out my men." Nice job. Count the blood stains, divide by 4, carry the 2. Reach out, reach out and touch someone....