SOLDIERS from Lancashire have taken part in a ‘dramatic push’ against the enemy in Afghanistan.

Troops from 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment Soldiers have moved into insurgent-held territory to move Taliban fighters away from several towns.

The units aim to set up new patrol bases in the ‘population centres’ of the southern Nad-e Ali district.

There are currently 600 1LANCS soldiers in the warzone as part of a six-month tour of duty which began in April.

A unit from the regiment played a central role in Black Push Forward, which took over a week to complete.

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Frazer Lawrence said: “There are three small population centres down on the southern patrol baseline.

“At the moment, the patrol bases are right in the population centres.

"If the insurgent attacks the patrol bases it means the local population could get caught up in the fighting.

“That is the last thing that we want to happen. So the purpose of this operation has been to push the patrol bases further out to increase the security footprint, and to provide a buffer zone between the patrol bases and the local population, so that should fighting occur, the locals are not caught up in it.”

Army chiefs said the operation saw three new patrol bases taken over by British and Afghan forces.

These were then used as footholds to provide protection from insurgents whilst army bomb disposal experts cleared roads running into the new locations of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

At the same time, ground holding patrols repelled insurgents on the right and left of the new routes, who were attempting to disrupt the operation.