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Evening News reporter escapes missile attack in former Taliban town

Scarborough Evening News reporter Ian Duncan was one of the first regional press journalists to get to the former Taliban town of Musa Qal’eh.

He stayed with soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) and 4th Regiment Royal Artillery and spent Christmas Day with the troops.

  • Ian in Musa Qal’eh
  • The town hit the headlines last month when it was recaptured during an Afghan National Army-led operation and fell just before Ian’s arrival in the Helmand province.

    He said: “When I heard the news I knew it was the main place I wanted to get to. It took some organising by officers and they got me there in the end.”

    The journey was on an American Black Hawk helicopter and he touched down at a base near the town on Christmas Day.

    He said: “It was definitely a Christmas I’ll remember. Christmas dinner came from a ration pack and I was sleeping on the floor of a former hotel.

    “There were no generators so it was dark very early.

    “A couple of mortars went over on Christmas night and Boxing Day but they landed about 1km away.”

    During his visit he spoke to more than 40 soldiers from Yorkshire and the North East of England and filed reports to several sister Johnston Press newspapers and websites across the region.

    As well as written reports he produced photographs and video footage.