Summary
Having chased down several new leads over the last few days, the threat of Maku’s forces still loomed over the towns in the surrounding area. We deployed multiple groups to surround and destroy targets in Maku, with teams set to counter the inevitable reinforcement from Dola.
After a false start when the group approaching from the Southeast took early contact before everyone was set, the resulting manoeuvres were a relative success. It became apparent that a smattering of IEDs had been rigged in some structures, so a sweep was performed before we moved to recce Dola.
The group approaching from the Northwest drew some contact from a sniper element, which later caused problems for a group aiming to blockade the Southern road that might have been used to escape. The contact that would have ensued was unlikely to serve our objectives, so we drew back towards base.
Before the squads initiated their assault on Maku, a Stronghold operative had been dropped off in Herati, with the aim to negotiate continued fuel deliveries, or to buy out the brothers entirely, which would allow us to control prices unilaterally.
The Stronghold operative returned, limping the damaged fuel truck back to base, as the squads prepared to deliver oil from Ali’s to Landay, and added visiting Tebbi to offer their services to the top of their To-do list. We filled our fuel truck at Ali’s and delivered to Landay, while another group negotiated with the Tebbi elder to deliver fuel for $36,000 a week.
Note from Stronghold
It would be beneficial to re-negotiate some of these deals, and the towns such as Naudey and Naw with whom we’ve yet to agree terms. From information Ali shared, and our lab testing, the quality of Ali’s oil is superior to that of the Herati-sourced fuel, which appears to have been diluted somewhat.
Our NATO correspondent has also asked how much volume Ali expects the Maku oilfield to be able to contribute to his operation, if it were to be secured and utilised efficiently. It seems they might be interested in a significant delivery to be made to the Airfield for use in their F22 Raptor and Predator drone, noting their successful mission in Dola destroying a BRDM-2 prior to our assault.
