British and Afghan army troops have conducted operation EAGLE'S SHADOW against IED factory 1212111.

The area had earlier been cordoned off by Scimitar Mk2 armoured vehicles equipped with 30mm cannons, and Warthog all-terrain troop carriers armed with .50-calibre heavy machine guns and 40mm grenade machine guns.

The vehicles, crewed by the Formation Reconnaissance Squadron, the BRF and the Warthog Group, helped to protect the landing sites as the helicopters swooped in.

Once on the ground, the soldiers came under harassing fire from insurgents as they moved in towards the compounds.

But the insurgents withdrew after two short fire fights, and, with a protective Apache attack helicopter now overhead, the soldiers moved on to the compound where local Afghans said insurgents had been manufacturing IEDs.

Troops found the building had been recently abandoned but discovered a captive patrolman from the Afghan Uniform Police (AUP) who told them the insurgents planned to execute him later that day.

As the soldiers moved out, they spotted suspicious activity at another compound close by, and when they searched the buildings they discovered 30kg of opium, an AK-47 sub-machine gun and large sums of money in different denominations.