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Map of Afghanistan’s provinces. Click map to view larger image. |
Afghan and Coalition forces have stepped up operations against the Taliban in the southern Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, killing and capturing dozens of leaders and foot soldiers during raids.
Over the past week, Afghan commandos and Coalition special operations teams have killed or captured four Taliban commanders, killed at least 24 Taliban fighters, and detained an undisclosed number during raids against leaders, IED cells, and a Taliban prison in the strategic provinces.
The largest clash took place on Aug. 17 in Helmand in the northern district of Musa Qala, where US Marines recently took control of the district from British forces. Thirteen Taliban fighters were killed during a raid on a “a makeshift prison compound” that was run by a commander in the neighboring district of Sangin, another Taliban stronghold in Kandahar. The combined force freed 27 civilians who were being held by the Taliban.
The second largest clash took place in the district of Panjwai, a Taliban stronghold just outside of Kandahar City. Security forces killed 10 Taliban fighters while targeting “a Taliban commander responsible for arranging weapons deliveries and settling allocation disputes.”
A Taliban commander named Aqua was killed the same day during “a precision air strike” in the district of Arghandab in Kandahar. Aqua “planned and coordinated” roadside bomb attacks against Afghan civilians and Afghan and Coalition forces, and also “facilitated the transportation of weapons and military material for his fighters.”
Also, yesterday, Coalition and Afghan forces killed one Taliban fighter and detained several more in Lashkar Gah in Helmand while targeting a Taliban commander who “profits from the trafficking of weapons, money, equipment and improvised explosive device components for a Pakistani-based network.” The commander, who was not captured, operates in the district of Maiwand in Kandahar.
And on Aug. 17, security forces detained several Taliban fighters during a raid that targeted “a senior Taliban commander and member of the Nawa Military Commission” in the district of Nawa in Helmand. The raid was part of the “continued pursuit” of the commander, who “is responsible for decisions involving military operations and matters of governance within the Taliban-controlled areas of Nawah-ye Barakzai district.”
Three other Taliban commanders were captured over the past week. On Aug. 11, ISAF confirmed the capture of the district leader of Nawa during a raid in Marja. On Aug. 15, security forces captured “a key Taliban weapons distributor” for fighters operating in the provincial capital of Kandahar, along with an undisclosed number of fighters, during a raid in the district of Daman. On Aug. 14, security forces captured two Taliban fighters, including a commander who “provided guidance and direction to Taliban fighters conducting improvised explosive device attacks and ambushes against Afghan civilians and Afghan and coalition forces,” during a raid in Panjwai.
Background on operations in the Afghan south
Over the past several months, US and Afghan special operations forces have been conducting raids against the Taliban’s top leaders and operatives in Kandahar and Helmand while attempting to wrest control of the provinces from the Taliban. More than 150 mid- and senior-level Taliban commanders have been killed during a series of special operations raids in the south over the past five months.
Coalition and Afghan forces had success in targeting the Taliban’s top leaders in Kandahar earlier this summer. Key Taliban commanders recently killed in the province include Haji Agha, the Taliban’s military commander for the Panjwai, Dand, and Zhari districts in Kandahar; Mullah Zergay, the Taliban’s leader for Kandahar City and the districts of Zhari and Arghandab; and Izzatullah, the Taliban’s military commander for Panjwai.
The US has placed great importance on the need to secure Kandahar, which is considered the ideological and spiritual home of the Taliban. Two Army brigades have surged into Kandahar, while the US Marines have surged a brigade into Helmand over the past year. Helmand, with its vast poppy crops, is considered the economic heartland of the Taliban.
Coalition forces are also placing great emphasis on restoring governance in the south and winning over the population, which has been largely sympathetic or supportive of the Taliban. But a Department of Defense survey of the situation in key districts in Afghanistan paints a grim picture of public support for the government in the south. In Kandahar and Helmand, the two provinces considered to be the key to the Taliban’s power in the south, the majority of the population is considered to be ambivalent toward the Afghan government and the Coalition, or sympathetic to or supportive of the Taliban.
Of the 11 of Kandahar’s 13 districts assessed earlier this year, one district (Kandahar City) supported the government, three districts were considered neutral, six were sympathetic to the Taliban, and one supported the Taliban. Of the 11 of Helmand’s 13 districts assessed, eight of the districts were considered neutral, one was sympathetic to the Taliban, and two supported the Taliban.
The Taliban, under a directive issued by Mullah Omar, have responded to the Coalition and Afghan offensive in the south with a campaign of violence and intimidation. Taliban fighters have been directed to “capture and kill any Afghan who is supporting and/or working for coalition forces or the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” as well as “any Afghan women who are helping or providing information to coalition forces.”
Dozens of political and tribal leaders have been assassinated in Kandahar City and the surrounding areas over the past five months.
Sources:
• Combined operation breaks up illegal Taliban detention compound, ISAF press release
• Security force kills 10 insurgents, destroys weapons, ISAF press release
• Taliban commander killed with precision air strike, ISAF press release
• Taliban commander captured in Kandahar, ISAF press release
• Security force detains suspected insurgents in Helmand, ISAF press release
• Insurgent killed, several detained in Helmand, ISAF press release
• Taliban weapons distributor captured in Kandahar, ISAF press release
• Taliban District commander captured in Helmand, ISAF press release
• Mullah Omar orders Taliban to attack civilians, Afghan women, The Long War Journal
11 Comments
We always said there will be good days and bad days in this conflict. This article shows us what a good day(s) looks like. Having the proper forces and a reasonable number of such forces can make a BIG difference. My heart soars like an eagle when I read such inspiring reports. Thank you Bill and thank you Servicemen. Victory IS attainable if our leaders would have the fortitude to do what needs to be done.
Atleast our leaders (since Jan. 2009) are finally fighting this war which we should have of won almost nine years ago. I wouldn’t say that our government isn’t doing “what needs to be done?” Why wasn’t this done years ago?
I wonder about the strategy of targeting top leaders instead of the rank and file. At first, it seemed like a good idea. Now I wonder if the rank & file feel secure as they go about in their rein of terror since only their leaders get killed. There are plenty of rank and file to get new leaders. The rank & file continue to do the bidding of the leader. They have high morale since they shoot a couple of rounds and run away and the leader is the only one martyred.
Maybe if more of the rank and file were killed, it would not seem so “fun” and the ranks would thin a bit. Its hard to lead when you have no followers.
There needs to be more consequence for those who join in the fight, otherwise its like a trip to summer camp where you get to play with explosives and shoot things.
Finally, PROGRESS. Now try keeping it up.
What realy happens to those “detained’. Life, execution, a few months, escapes, bribery?
I would feel better if they were removed permanently, unless the agree to spill their guts with a worthwhile outcome.
Take the wounded ones, and while knocked out for repairs, implant tracking devices. Is that possible?
“US Marines have surged a brigade into Helmand over the past year. Helmand, with its vast poppy crops, is considered the economic heartland of the Taliban.”
Rather than look the other way while Afghan farmers plant poppies and harvest opium, ISAF needs to legalize and control the trade completely. The opium trade largely funds Taliban operations. The current legal source of opium used for pharmaceutical grade morphine is Tasmania, Australia, where it is grown under contract. Why not pay Tasmanian farmers to switch to another crop and utilize Afghans to supply this market instead? Contracting with Afghan farmers and buying up their entire opium harvest for legal morphine production would effectively defund the Taliban. As General Petraeus pointed out in a recent interview, two-thirds of all Taliban fighters are “five-dollars-a-day” men. They fight not for extremist Islamic ideology but for the money. By controlling the opium trade, ISAF eliminates two-thirds of the Taliban in one stroke.
Since Kandahar and Helmand grow most of the opium, and we have had a strong presence there for some time now, the provinces are at least contested, and no longer solely controlled by the Taliban, I would think. But doesn’t this mean that MOST of the revenues from opium grown in these provinces have disappeared? After all, if the province is only half controlled by the Talibs, then their opium productivity must be down by ~90%, I would think, given the high probability of being intercepted somewhere along the way by our guys.
This would mean that Taliban drug revenues would be way down. Is there any evidence of this at all?
Is the campaign having any impact on drug revenues? Do the experts out there have any information about this?
@Cordell Your idea makes sense. Illicit heroin is ravaging urban areas of Russia and Eastern Europe as well so I would think we’d have some international support for your plan.
I wouldn’t worry about that Afghan batallion getting routed some days ago… batallions are being churned out three days a piece, and there’s also stuff like this happening.
Ah, my apologies, its actually about five days a batallion.
Bill:
Are you collecting any before and after stats of coalition casualty rates in Afghanistan?
I am referring to the great floods in KP. Will it be as significant as the Deluge?