[14] Zafar 2, launched on 19 May, and lasting four days, saw British troops deployed to secure an area so that a checkpoint—to be manned by Afghan forces—could be built on a key route into the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

[8] Panther's Claw was launched around midnight on 19 June 2009a with the stated aim of securing control of various canal and river crossings and establishing a lasting ISAF presence[8] in an area described by Lt Col Richardson as "one of the main Taliban strongholds" ahead of the 2009 Afghan presidential election.

[15] In what the Ministry of Defence described as "one of the largest air operations in modern times", according to BBC News, more than 350 troops from The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS),(2 Rifles) transported by twelve Chinook helicopters, deployed into Babaji, north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, in Helmand Province.

[15] Taliban fighters in the area launched multiple attacks against British forces, all of which were repelled, and 3 SCOTS secured three key crossings—the Lui Mandey Wadi crossing, the Nahr e-Burgha canal and the Shamalan canal—by 23 June.

[16][17] On 23 June, the MoD reported that British troops involved in Panther's Claw discovered 1.3 tonnes of poppy seed the day before, as well as improvised explosive devices (IEDs)—which they disabled[15]—and anti-personnel land mines.

[18] On 25 June, the 1st Battalion, Welsh Guards with attachments from 4th Bn The Rifles, pushed up Shamalan canal securing 14 more crossing points, cutting off the insurgents' supply route and thus preventing more Taliban fighters coming into the Babaji area.