this was the outbreak of "a ground swell of resentment" and "growing hostility to foreigners" that had been growing and building since 2004, and may also have been triggered by a US air strike a week earlier in southern Afghanistan killing 30 civilians, where she assumed that "the Taliban had been sheltering in civilian houses". June June 27: A 16-man British special forces team consisting mostly of marines and soldiers from C squadron SBS and members of the SRR carried out Operation Ilois to capture 4 Taliban leaders in compounds on the outskirts of Sangin at 3am. After capturing them, they were returning to their Land Rover vehicles when the team was ambushed by an estimated 60-70 Taliban fighters whilst returning to their base, starting a firefight: one UKSF Land Rover was destroyed by a RPG and one SBS operator was seriously injured, the team took cover in an irrigation ditch and requested assistance whilst holding off against the Taliban force. The Helmand Battle Group had not been informed of the operation until it went wrong; a QRF made up of a platoon of Gurkhas responded but ran into another insurgent ambush. The firefight lasted from 1 to 3 hours until a Gurkha Platoon fought their way through to them, twice, with close air support from 2 Apaches, a U.S. A-10 Thunderbolt and 2 Harrier GR7s. break contact and return to the closest FOB; 2 of the 4 Taliban leaders were killed in the firefight whilst the other 2 escaped in the chaos. Upon reaching the FOB it was discovered that Captain David Patten, SRR, and Sergeant Paul Bartlett, SBS were missing - one was helping wounded out of a vehicle when he was shot and assumed killed, whilst the second went missing during the firefight. A company from the Parachute Regiment in an RAF Chinook took off to find them, a pair of Apaches spotted the bodies and the Paras recovered them. One SBS commando was awarded the Military Cross for his actions in the ambush. July July: Battle of Panjwaii between Canadian NATO forces and the Taliban. This battle consists of two phases, one from July–August, and the other September through October 2006. 31 July - The ISAF expanded its area of operation with the inclusion of 6 southern provinces: Daykundi, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimroz, Uruzgan and Zabul. September September 2: Canadians launch Operation Medusa. September 16: Operation Mountain