Unit/ Formation: SBS
Location: Alinger Valley, Laghman Province
Period/ Conflict: War in Afghanistan (2001-)
Year: 2013
Date/s: 23 December 2013
During a night time raid to take out high-ranking Taliban officials living in a rocky valley outside Kabul, Captain Richard Holloway serving with the SBS was killed by Taliban small arms fire.
The joint SBS-Afghan forces raid (with air support) took place in the Alinger Valley, Laghman Province east of Kabul ahead of the Afghanistan elections. The inquest into Captain Holloways death were told that 10 enemy fighters were killed, including one would-be suicide bomber.
His commanding officer, Officer C, gave evidence from behind a screen he said the operation was a tactical success, as it disrupted the Taliban psychologically in an area where they would assume they were safe. "Rich died with a rifle in his hand, he died doing the job that he absolutely loved and he died protecting the freedoms the Afghan people enjoyed, like the people in the UK," Officer C said.
Rich died with a rifle in his hand, he died doing the job that he absolutely loved and he died protecting the freedoms the Afghan people enjoyed, like the people in the UK.
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