DUTCH heavy artillery has been used to pound suspected Taliban positions as round-the-clock military operations continue to root out insurgents operating in mountains close to this strategic base in Oruzgan province jointly manned by an Australian task force.A brief siren wail was the only warning Sunday afternoon that a huge 155 millimetre self-propelled gun was about to fire. Over the course of an hour the German-built Panzerhaubitze 155mm self-propelled howitzer, short-listed for procurement by the Australian Defence Force, fired six rounds of highly specialised extended range ammunition capable of hitting targets with pinpoint precision 40km away. The thunderclap detonations sent shock waves through Camp Holland the name given to this predominately Dutch base that is shared by 400 Australian Army engineers and a 300-strong special forces task group.
Details of the fire support mission were not given but followed a day of intense air activity over Tarin Kowt involving Dutch Apache helicopter gun ships and Blackhawk transport helicopters. Australian troops are also heavily involved clearing Taliban extremists from the strategic Baluchi Pass in the Chora valley north east of Tarin Kowt.