Qualla: Siege of Sangin https://qualla.com/siege-of-sangin en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:31 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/t/m/w/n/siege-of-sangin-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Siege of Sangin https://qualla.com/siege-of-sangin Siege of Sangin: Introduction https://qualla.com/siege-of-sangin/ Photo credit Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army, Public domain. They called it Sangingrad. The nickname -- part gallows humor, part genuine comparison to the Battle of Stalingrad -- stuck because it fit. From June 2006 to April 2007, roughly 120 British soldiers held the district centre compound in Sangin against a Taliban force that attacked five or six times a day, that moved freely through the town's bazaar with local assistance, and that cut every road in and out. General David Richards, NATO's commander in Afghanistan at the time, declared the fighting in Helmand Province the fiercest involving British troops since the Korean War. He was not exaggerating.

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Image: Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/m/w/n/siege-of-sangin-wp/tmwn-siege-of-sangin-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Siege of Sangin: Two Tribes and a Powder Keg https://qualla.com/siege-of-sangin/ Photo credit Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army, Public domain. The violence in Sangin did not begin with the British. The town of 30,000 sat in Helmand's fertile "green zone," where irrigated farmland made it one of Afghanistan's most productive opium poppy regions. Control of Sangin meant control of the smuggling corridor running south to M...

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Image: Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/m/w/n/siege-of-sangin-wp/tmwn-siege-of-sangin-two-tribes-and-a-powder-keg.mp3 0:06 2 full Siege of Sangin: The Compound https://qualla.com/siege-of-sangin/ Photo credit Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army, Public domain. On June 13, 2006, after a U.S. convoy was ambushed on the road north to Musa Qala, 120 British troops arrived in two Chinook helicopters. The Taliban initially offered no resistance, and local residents seemed passively accepting of the new presence. The soldiers garrisoned the g...

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Image: Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/m/w/n/siege-of-sangin-wp/tmwn-siege-of-sangin-the-compound.mp3 0:06 3 full Siege of Sangin: Under Fire https://qualla.com/siege-of-sangin/ Photo credit Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army, Public domain. Taliban fighters used the bazaar's narrow alleys as staging areas, emerging at night to fire RPG-7 rockets and small arms at the compound. With every road severed, the garrison depended entirely on helicopter flights from Camp Bastion for food, ammunition, and medical evacuation ...

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Image: Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/m/w/n/siege-of-sangin-wp/tmwn-siege-of-sangin-under-fire.mp3 0:06 4 full Siege of Sangin: Bryan Budd's Last Fight https://qualla.com/siege-of-sangin/ Photo credit Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army, Public domain. On August 20, a 20-man group of paratroopers was clearing a compound when the Taliban sprung an ambush. Corporal Bryan Budd led his section in an immediate counterattack, personally killing two fighters before heavy fire forced a withdrawal. Two of his men were wounded. It was on...

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Image: Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/m/w/n/siege-of-sangin-wp/tmwn-siege-of-sangin-bryan-budds-last-fight.mp3 0:06 5 full Siege of Sangin: Seventy-Nine Attacks in Twenty Days https://qualla.com/siege-of-sangin/ Photo credit Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army, Public domain. The paratroopers were eventually replaced by 3 Commando Brigade -- first Kilo Company of 42 Commando Royal Marines, then rotations of light infantry and fusiliers. The violence did not relent. Fire Support Teams from the 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery lost three killed in...

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Image: Spc. Keith D. Henning, U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/t/m/w/n/siege-of-sangin-wp/tmwn-siege-of-sangin-seventy-nine-attacks-in-twenty-days.mp3 0:06 6 full