July 28th 2011, Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan, Afghanistan

I was sitting in the office today working away, it was lunchtime and a lot of the guys were heading to the Kitchen for lunch, a very normal day, but just then, a bang and the office shook........at first I ignored it as you become accustomed to all sorts of noises and thought that it was just another controlled explosion which are common on base, however there was something different about this..

I headed towards the kitchen and heard another bang and then noticed a column of smoke in the air, I then knew this was something more significant, today, I had really arrived in Afghanistan and would feel and smell the conflict in this country.

As the afternoon wore on, the tension mounted, the camp was locked down and I was trying to find out where the rest of our team were as they were working on different projects around the camp, helicopters were becoming more numerous and noisey, there were chinooks flying over us and sending out so much dust that you could hardly see around you....was it frightening, yes, but not in a way that I felt that I or the others were in any immediate threat, this was all about a Country fighting against itself, a civil war if you like...

I went to look at BBC on the internet as I felt a hunch that something significant was happening and sure enough, there it was, all the word you associate with this conflict right here beside me, fierce fighting, gun battle and suicide bombers, right here within hearing distance of me, I could feel the vibrations, see the helicopters flying over and most of all, could sense the tension...

I have spent one month here this week, working as a Project Manager for a Facilities / Construction Co. here at FOB Tarin Kowt, living on a Military Camp with 6000 soldiers and 500 Contractors like me, but today, I have really arrived here....

It transpired that this was Taliban attack on the Governor's Compound in the town of Tarin Kowt which is just a few hundred metres from the entrance to the Military Base where we live and work....

22 people were killed that day including innocent women and children and a well known BBC reporter in this region, It was one of the oddest days I have ever experienced being in a war zone but being essentially safe from it yet so close to it that you sense it in every way, you hear it, smell it, feel it.....

The noise of the choppers continued well into teh evening and night time, some as Medical Evacuation, some as Military Missions....

here is teh BBC Report on the day.... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14325486