A Tough Call

As a photojournalist, I’ve been covering the war on terror in Afghanistan (“Operation Enduring Freedom”) since 2002. I’ve embedded a total of eleven times with U.S. and Coalition troops. This latest time though was different.

A soldier from Charlie Company, U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division, fires at Taliban fighters on a ridge-line above.

The village of Barg-e Matal in Nuristan Province stands within eyesight of the Pakistan border, but it might as well be in another galaxy, that’s how isolated it is. Social ties and loyalties among its people are drawn along ethnic and family lines and are unquestionably solid.

Charlie Company troops watch as mortars rain in on Taliban insurgents hiding on the mountainside near the town of Barg-e Matal, Nuristan Province.

The concept of a central government based on democratic process as we know it in the West, is as remote as the region’s geography, but villagers here are poised to give it a second try – a second presidential choice “of the people.”

On the other hand, the ousted-since-2001 Taliban have their own agenda and are doing everything in their power to disrupt Afghanistan’s national election scheduled for August 20th. That’s why the Taliban were here; that’s why Charlie Company of the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division was here too – to counter that initiative. And this is where my coverage begins.

Landing by Chinook helicopter in the dark of night, I followed soldiers to Firebase Lindstrom, consisting of vacated mud-and-timber rooms on a small hill above the center of Barg-e Matal, largest town in Nuristan Province.

We were hit with rockets, mortars and small-arms fire practically every day during the 10 days I spent with soldiers of Charlie Company. Taliban spotters watched our every move from ridges high above, shot when then had a chance – then ran. U.S. troops counted their attacks and called in air support to “level” the playing-field terrain.

Then on a “straight forward” patrol one late afternoon all hell broke loose. We lost one soldier directly ahead of me. We were caught in a three-sided ambush. From above we were fired on and air-strikes were summoned to take out Taliban fighting positions on the ridge-line several hundred meters above. Stones and shrapnel rained down. We all ducked for cover. When the fighting stopped, the group of four ahead called for a medic, but it was too late. A soldier of 21 years was shot dead.

“Please don’t take any pictures,” came the request to the “reporter.”

I didn’t.

Photojournalist David Bathgate teaches an online course in photojournalism at The Compelling Image.