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Kajaki Dam incident

The Kajaki Dam Incident occurred on the 6 September 2006, when 4 Soviet anti-personnel mines, left over from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, were detonated by soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army. One soldier was fatally wounded, and seven others sustained serious injuries during the blasts.

Background

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The troops were based at "Normandy" outpost in Helmand. They were there to protect the Afghan village of Kajaki from the Taliban militant group.

Incident

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In the early hours of 6 September 2006, Taliban activity was spotted in the form of a checkpoint being set up by armed militants.[1] Corporal Stu Pearson, who was commander of the Normandy outpost, was alerted by Lance Corporal Stewart Hale to the activity, and was informed that Hale could potentially engage the militants with his sniper rifle,[1] but they saw a more suitable vantage point across the dam.[1]

As they traversed the landscape towards their vantage point, LCpl Hale stood on and triggered a land mine, suffering an amputation of his lower right leg and serious injuries to his right hand, including the loss of a finger; he initially thought he had been hit by a mortar shell.[2] The remaining paratroopers began to administer first aid and a tourniquet while calling for support from any surrounding units and a winch from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. This was important, as a Black Hawk has a winch to lift injured up and the downforce of the blades is low, avoiding any danger of triggering more mines in the minefield.[1] A Black Hawk was not available at the time, so a Chinook helicopter was dispatched. As more troopers arrived, Hale was moved onto a small embankment on the side of the riverbed.

Pearson went to retrieve a water bottle left at the scene where Hale was being treated, and triggered another explosion.[3] The downdraught of the arriving Chinook's blades caused a third mine to be detonated causing further injuries.[4]

Aftermath

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Five of the British paratroopers involved in the incident sued the British Ministry of Defence for "breaching their duty of care".[5] It was settled without trial with £1.7 million being awarded to Stuart Pearson, who used £600,000 for his state-of-the-art prosthetics.[6] Compensation was also won for Mark Wright's family and Andrew Barlow.[7]

A number of those involved in the incident received gallantry awards:

George Cross
George Medal
  • Lance Corporal Paul Hartley, Royal Army Medical Corps[9][10]
  • Fusilier Andrew Barlow, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers[11][12]
Queen's Gallantry Medal
  • Corporal Stuart Pearson, The Parachute Regiment[9]
Queen's Commendation for Bravery in the Air
  • Senior Airman Jason Broline, United States Air Force[13]
  • Staff Sergeant Cameron Hystad, United States Air Force[13]
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The 2014 British film Kajaki is based on the Kajaki dam incident.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Kajaki: Turning a remarkable Afghanistan escape into a film". The Independent. 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  2. ^ Heaney, Paul (November 25, 2014). "Hurt soldier's hope for Afghan film" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. ^ Harding, Thomas (2007-11-10). "Mine victims to return to the frontline". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  4. ^ "Justice For Soldiers After Horrific Kajaki Minefield Incident". Irwin Mitchell. February 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2024-05-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ Harding, Thomas (2007-02-28). "Troops blown up by Afghan mines sue MoD". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
  6. ^ "Soldier who lost leg wins £1.7m in damages". BBC News. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  7. ^ "Justice for Soldiers After Horrific Kajaki Minefield Incident".
  8. ^ "No. 58182". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 December 2006. pp. 17352–17353.
  9. ^ a b "No. 58183". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 December 2006. p. 17357.
  10. ^ Matthews, James (5 July 2021). "Afghanistan veteran looks back on Kajaki Dam tragedy: 'Decisions are made by people in suits who have never fought a battle'". Sky News. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Soldier's medal for mine bravery". BBC News. 23 July 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  12. ^ "No. 58396". The London Gazette (Supplement). 19 July 2007. p. 10412.
  13. ^ a b "Armed forces operational honours 15th December 2006". The Telegraph. 14 December 2006. Archived from the original on 23 June 2025. Retrieved 20 August 2025.