Speaker 1: Welcome to Spycraft, a podcast that tells gripping life and
Speaker 1: death spy stories and the amazing devices and operations that
Speaker 1: made them possible. Now let's get started.
Speaker 2: Have you ever wondered what your furry friend is really thinking? Well,
Speaker 2: let me introduce to you my new book, Dog Psychology
Speaker 2: by doctor Carlos Vasquez. As a psychology professor with over
Speaker 2: ten years experience, I've unlocked the secrets of the canine psyche.
Speaker 2: I will teach you how to understand your dog's body language,
Speaker 2: to code their barks and wines, solved behavioral puzzles, and
Speaker 2: strengthen your pond like never before. With Dog Psychology, you'll
Speaker 2: see the world through your dog's eyes. Don't just be
Speaker 2: a dog owner, become a dog whisperer. So go get
Speaker 2: Dog Psychology by doctor Carlos Vasquez, available now on kindle
Speaker 2: or paperback on Amazon. Welcome back. Everybody tell you we're
Speaker 2: looking at Operation Barras BABRS. It's a operation that happened
Speaker 2: in Sierra Leone. So let's find out what's going on
Speaker 2: in freetown, Sierra Leoned. Britain's elite Special Forces SAS and
Speaker 2: Parachute Regiment executed a high stakes rescue operation in Sierra
Speaker 2: Leone twenty five years ago. They freed eleven British soldiers
Speaker 2: held hostage by the notorious West Side Boys militia. The
Speaker 2: dubbed Operation Barris, the mission unfolded and the dense jungles
Speaker 2: along the Roquale Creek fifty miles east of Freetown, marking
Speaker 2: a decisive blow to the rebel group and underscoring the
Speaker 2: United Kingdom's resolve in West Africa's crumbling stability. The crisis
Speaker 2: began in August twenty fifth when a patrol from the
Speaker 2: Royal Irish Regiment, part of a UN backed training mission,
Speaker 2: was ambushed near the villages of Gabaribana and Macmeni. The
Speaker 2: West Side Boys, a splinter faction known for their brutal
Speaker 2: and erratic behavior, seized the soldiers, demanding the release of
Speaker 2: their imprisoned leader, Faux de Calais and other concessions. Negotiations
Speaker 2: faltered as the rebels, often intoxicated by drugs and alcohol,
Speaker 2: paraded their captives captives, escalating tensions in a nation still
Speaker 2: reeling from a decade long civil war. Britain's response, however,
Speaker 2: was swift and surgical. At dawn on September tenth, two
Speaker 2: Chinook helicopters carrying approximately one hundred and fifty SAS and
Speaker 2: paratroopers descended on the twin villages. The operation was meticulously coordinated.
Speaker 2: While says commandos stormed to barry Bona to extract the hostages,
Speaker 2: Paris hit mag Benny the paratroopers to neutralize rebel reinforcements,
Speaker 2: supported by the Lynx helicopters, firing on enemy positions he
Speaker 2: had sought. Lasted about twenty minutes. That was it, but
Speaker 2: was fiercely contested. The rebels, armed with AK forty sevens
Speaker 2: and RPGs, mounted a disorganized resistance, only to be overwhelmed
Speaker 2: by the British forces precision and power. All eleven hostages
Speaker 2: were made easingly rescued, though five have been moved prior
Speaker 2: to the raid and were freed in a secondary action.
Speaker 2: The cost was sleep, though one SAS trooper, Private brand
Speaker 2: Tenian was killed and several others wounded. Estimates suggest twenty
Speaker 2: five rebels die, with dozens more captured, including Calais, whose
Speaker 2: arrest may cripple the group's leadership. The operation's success hinged
Speaker 2: on weeks of intelligence from MI six their international kind
Speaker 2: of equivalent to the CIA in the US and reconnaissance
Speaker 2: by the Special Boat Service for Sierra Leone. Operation Barus
Speaker 2: is a double edged sword. The west Side Boyd's a
Speaker 2: thorn in the government's sites and splintering from the Armed
Speaker 2: reugh Forces Revolutionary Council have been weakened, potentially easing pressure
Speaker 2: of Free Town's fragile coalition. Yet the raid exposes the
Speaker 2: limits of the UN mission and the Sierra Leone Army,
Speaker 2: both reliant on foreign intervention to maintaining order. Britain's three
Speaker 2: hundred strong troop presence at the time, ostensibly for training,
Speaker 2: now appears as linchpinn in the country's security, so Operation
Speaker 2: Barras stands as a stark reminder folks the stability there
Speaker 2: remains a foreign import, just with blood and audacity sometimes,
Speaker 2: but a great operation that saved those hostages. Incredible job
Speaker 2: by the SAS