Army engineers building a bridge in Nad e-Ali recently had to down tools and pick up their weapons when insurgents opened fire on them.

They were pinned down for an hour while Afghan National Army soldiers and British infantrymen engaged the enemy in a fierce firefight. It started as the men from 10 Field Squadron (Air Support), attached to 28 Engineer Regiment Group, were laying the foundations for the new bridge.

Troop Commander Lieutenant Kristian Haagensen recalls: "My job was to build a bridge over a canal so that we could get our vehicles into the area occupied by the insurgents on the other side of the canal. We were hard at work on the first day, shoring up verges, when we suddenly came under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack. We dived into the very same ditch we had been shoring up."

Sapper Craig Mellon, who was also involved in the incident, said: "The insurgents opened fire from a compound only 250 metres away as we were digging on the verge. We all managed to get down in the ditch next to the canal. The Afghan National Army lads and our Infantry guys opened up on the enemy straight away."

"We were stuck in the ditch for an hour, but then once the threat had passed we got on with the job. I suppose I did feel a bit nervous working afterwards but this is the job we have trained to do. It was not until I was back in the tent that I thought just how close it was."

Sapper Daniel Nansoz was in the cab of the digger when the insurgents opened fire. He recalled "I am well protected in there by the armour so I just moved the digger to a wall as per my orders and kept my head down till it was over. The enemy does a good job of keeping themselves very well hidden but we have some equally good shooters in our Battle Group. They saw off the blokes firing at us and thankfully none of our guys got hurt - that's the main thing."

"As Engineers we know that we have to get the job done. Once we had driven the insurgents back, everyone picked up where they left off. It's always difficult after a contact but you still have to get the lads back up to finish the job."

"This really is the front line", continued Lt Haagensen. "We have trained hard for this kind of task so we were fully prepared for the installation. The next night we went in, assembled the bridge and placed it in at first light. Again, as it got light, the insurgents contacted us with some small arms fire. The lads got down in the ditch again and we actually used the digger scoop to get them into a safe position. Smoke was called in to provide us with cover. Once the smoke had cleared, the build was complete - a gleaming result!"

"Once we have pushed the insurgents out of the area the local people will be able to move freely about and the new vehicle bridge will make their lives a lot easier."