From the front line, Afghanistan

The battle blazed on through the night and the Taliban launched a fresh four-hour onslaught with reinforcements after dawn. But they finally accepted they were outclassed and fled.

An Army spokesman said: "They chose the wrong unit to pick a fight with, there is no doubt about that."

The ambush came as 19 Light Brigade's Reconnaissance Force were returning to their Camp Bastion base after Operation Panther's Valour to drive the Taliban out of an area of Helmand.

The force - simply known as the BRF - is made up of crack troops chosen mainly from the brigade's infantry units. Their convoy was blocked when a two-kilo landmine blew a wheel off the leading Mastiff truck at Nad-e-Ali.