Opinion Taliban tackle
After weeks of preparation,the US-led coalition forces mobilised 15,000 troops and scores of jet-fighters and helicopter gunships...
After weeks of preparation,the US-led coalition forces mobilised 15,000 troops and scores of jet-fighters and helicopter gunships to launch a massive offensive on February 13 to seize Marjah,a Taliban-controlled rural area populated by around 85,000 ethnic Pashtuns in Afghanistans southwestern Helmand province.
NATO and Afghan forces were so confident that it was announced beforehand that the offensive was about to take place,so both sides knew about the impending attack. The media,most of it embedded with the 4,000 US Marines,4,000 British soldiers and troops from Canada,Denmark,Estonia and the Afghan National Army (ANA),were fascinated by the idea that the Marjah offensive was the biggest in Afghanistan in the last eight years and the largest ground attack since the Vietnam War.
In fact,the size of the offensive was so huge and the Taliban fighters totalling 400 to 1,000 defending Marjah were so small in number that the battle appeared a mismatch. It was also intriguing why such a large force was put together for a conventional battle,knowing that the Taliban were not going to entrench themselves in Marjah and risk losses in head-on fighting with a far better-equipped enemy. When asked why thousands of troops were deployed to defeat a few hundred Taliban fighters,Afghanistans defence minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak said the number of insurgents in Marjah was high but most fled before the offensive. It seems the minister and others who planned the offensive thought that the Taliban fighters would stay put and fight.
The offensive has been named Moshtarak,a Dari and Pashto word meaning together because it is a joint military action involving both foreign and Afghan troops. In fact,Nato military commander General Stanley McChrystal has emphasised that Afghan soldiers were leading the offensive. By putting Afghan troops on the frontlines,the Nato authorities are hoping to test the fighting capability and resolve of the 100,000-plus Afghan National Army,which has been plagued by desertions,indiscipline and corruption. Afghan security forces,including the army,police,border and intelligence agencies,would rise to the strength of 300,000 by 2012 and are expected to take over from the US-led foreign troops after July 2011,under President Obamas new strategy.
Nato and Afghan military authorities are hoping that the Marjah operations will be completed in a month after driving out the Taliban,clearing the landmines and facilitating the return of displaced families.
That there hasnt been much fighting in Marjah is borne out by the fact that only 27 Taliban and five foreign and Afghan soldiers have reportedly been killed in four days of fighting. In fact,the civilian losses are on the high side with 15 persons,including six children,being killed in misdirected rocket-fire and other incidents. The civilian casualties were termed a serious setback to efforts to win local support,because the offensive was publicised as part of a strategy to protect the people.
However,Marjah and the Nad-i-Ali district in which it is located were not the only places in Helmand that were under Taliban control. As Helmand Governor Muhammad Gulab Mangal conceded,the Taliban still control three (Baghran,Washir and Deshow) out of 13 districts in the province. Besides,the government control of certain other districts was weak. Though it is a fact that Taliban lost the districts of Garmser,Nawzad and Khanashin last year following offensives by joint forces of foreign and Afghan soldiers,the Afghan government would have to do reconstruction and rehabilitation work and provide security and basic services to the people to wean them away from the militants.
Helmand has been a Taliban stronghold since the emergence of the radical Islamic movement in 1994. It is often said that Helmand has provided more fighters to the Taliban movement than any other province in Afghanistan,even though its leadership has mostly come from the neighbouring Kandahar and Urozgan provinces. The Taliban have benefited from Helmands strategic location on the border with Pakistans Balochistan province to organise cross-border movement of fighters and supplies. They have also used profits from the poppy crop in Helmand,which is the largest producer of opium and heroin in Afghanistan,to fuel the insurgency. Though a complete defeat for Taliban is not in sight,the loss of territory in Helmand would weaken their ability to run military training camps,assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and manage a parallel administration capable of delivering services and security to the people. By evicting Taliban from strongholds such as Marjah,Operation Moshtarak could open a window of opportunity for President Hamid Karzais government and its mostly Western backers to extend its control to Taliban-held areas and attempt to win the hearts and minds of people.
The writer is resident editor of The News in Peshawar
express@expressindia.com
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