On 15 April 2012 , during the Taliban attack on Kabul , SBS members cleared Taliban militants from a central location overlooking foreign embassies . A heavily armed insurgent suicide squad occupied a six-story , half-built tower block , and began firing small arms and RPGs on nearby buildings including the British and German embassies . SBS operators and Afghan troops fought a close quarters battle for eight-and-a-half hours to eventually clear the militants from the structure . The mission to end the siege is thought to have been one of the most decorated actions of Britain 's involvement in Afghanistan , with several gallantry awards given to the participants . A combat assault dog , a Belgian Malinois known as Mali , received the Dickin Medal for his actions during the battle . Despite being badly injured by grenade shrapnel , Mali stayed by the side of his handler and continued to find safe routes for the British and Afghan troops as they fought their way up the tower floor-by-floor , preventing the operators from suffering major casualties . On 23 December 2013 , Captain Richard Holloway was serving with the SBS when he was killed by Taliban small arms fire while conducting an operation to suppress the Taliban in a joint SBS-Afghan forces raid ( with air support ) on Taliban insurgents in a valley east of Kabul ahead of the Afghanistan elections
Taliban attack on Kabul
April 2012 Afghanistan attacks
Special Boat Service