New intelligence had been received that an
unidentified, senior Al Qaeda leader was
about to attend a meeting with local Taliban
chief Fazal Mesud (Objective Chaplain) in the
Taliban stronghold of Ali Sherzai, Pakistan
(designated Operational Area (OA) Ratrun).
This information had been fed to a Senior
CIA Case Officer (codenamed Spider). His
only directive from the Agency was to kill or
capture Numair and any known associates.
Convinced that this could only be Panther,
permission for a covert cross-border mission
had been sought and granted. Spider,
together with his attached 1st Special Forces
Operational Detachment-Delta Liaison
Officer (call-sign Townhouse), had planned a
046
December 2011
direct action strike within OA Ratrun.
Task Force (TF) Viper, consisting of
operators from Seal Team Six, Special Boat
Service (SBS) Commandos and Rangers
from Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th
Ranger Regiment, had been assembled to
carry out the strike.
The SBS were to deploy into the target
area, confirm the new intelligence and get
“eyes on” the final target, a compound
designated Alpha 04.
The Rangers would deploy and establish
inner and outer cordons, surrounding Alpha
04 in order to protect the strike.
At first light Seal Team Six would make
a rapid helicopter assault, with orders to
capture or kill both Kingston and Chaplain
and any other targets found within the
compound.
Due to the extreme sensitivity of the
mission, my request to accompany ST6 was
denied. Instead I found myself bouncing
around the inside of a support vehicle as we
tore across the Border towards Ali Sherzai,
arriving just as the helos touched down.
I was surprised at how little resistance
there was as the Seals assaulted the building
and stormed inside. I was convinced that the
intel had been faulty and there was nobody
home. But within minutes the firing ceased
and a line of prisoners were led from the
building, loaded into waiting vehicles and
driven at high-speed back to the Forward
Operating Base (FOB) – but were Kingston
or Chaplain among them?
I got back just as the prisoners were being
escorted from the vehicles and handed over
to Spider for interrogation. Unfortunately,
neither Kingston nor Chaplain was among
them – they either hadn’t been in the
compound or had escaped as the Seals
moved in. With little or no information to go
on the prisoners were quickly processed and
transported onwards for further questioning.
With the lack of immediate success,
it was decided to establish a FOB much
closer to the Taliban’s Area of Operation.
This would allow the TF to operate much
more effectively (with shorter lines of
communication and supply) and the hunt for
Kingston and Chaplain to continue.
As they prepared to move out, in their own
transport and an acquired Russian BDRM 2,
Taliban fighters were spotted in the distance