British PM makes surprise visit to Afghanistan

Early wins in a major anti-Taliban push in southern Afghanistan offered a "beacon of hope," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Saturday during a surprise visit to troops.



During a lightning eight-hour visit to Helmand province, Brown cautioned that it was vital to "win the peace as well as the war" and vowed that British troops would stay in Afghanistan until their job was done.

"That's why it's so crucial that in just 20 days since the start of the operation, the combined international and Afghan forces, military and civilian, have begun turning a stronghold of brutal Taliban insurgency into a beacon of hope for local people," he told reporters.

Before Brown left Camp Bastion, one of the biggest military bases in Afghanistan, Britain's Ministry of Defence reported the death of a British soldier in an explosion in Helmand Friday.

The death in the Sangin district, which the ministry said was not connected to the ongoing assault that Brown referred to, brings to 269 the number of British troops killed since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001.

In what is likely to be his last trip to Afghanistan before a general election expected on May 6, Brown met British troops at Camp Bastion and two frontline posts in Nad Ali, including one taken in Operation Mushtarak, currently under way in Helmand.

Mushtarak, in which US Marines have led 15,000 troops against Taliban insurgents in two poppy growing districts, Marjah and Nad Ali, is the first test of a counter-insurgency strategy for speeding an end to the war.

Around 4,000 of Britain's 10,000 troops in Afghanistan have been taking part in the campaign launched on February 13, in which troops are now consolidating control of the opium-producing target area.

Commanders on the ground have said they do not yet have complete control, but are paving the way for Afghan-led security and civil services.

Recent gains in Operation Mushtarak are set to be followed up in other Taliban strongholds in Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar province over the coming 12-18 months.

But the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in a strong statement issued in Kabul, warned that civilian control in the the Marjah area was still elusive due to the Taliban's lingering presence in the area.

The Marjah farming area had been so heavily mined with IEDs that civilians were largely confined indoors and the sick and injured could not be evacuated for help, the ICRC said.

"Improvised mines and other explosive devices are posing a deadly threat to civilians in Marjah," Reto Stocker, head of the ICRC in Kabul, was quoted in a statement as saying.

"They make it almost impossible for people to venture out or to evacuate the sick and wounded, who therefore receive little or no medical care," he said.

The Taliban is the only party in the Afghan war to use IEDs, said Bijan Farnoudi, the ICRC's spokesman in Kabul, adding: "The improvised mines in Marjah have been left behind in huge numbers by the Taliban."

Brown said training local police was a pivotal part of the plan to hand security over to the Afghans so foreign troops can start withdrawing.

"We will do everything we can to support you with the equipment necessary and the resources you need," Brown told an audience at the Helmand police training centre on the outskirts of Laskhar Gah, Helmand's capital.

Brown flew to Afghanistan after giving evidence to Britain's public inquiry into the Iraq war on Friday, when he denied accusations that he did not properly fund the military in that conflict when he was finance minister, before taking over as prime minister from Tony Blair in 2007.

"I've been planning this visit for some time," he told reporters in Helmand. "The last four years I have come here around this time just to meet the troops to see what progress has been made."

Contacted at Loy Doreh

Fire Support, 1 R WELSH had a patrol to undertake in the afternoon. Within 20 minutes of leaving Checkpoint Bennett (a new CP established to provide security along Route 603), the 30 man patrol came under fire from the Taleban. It was a feisty skirmish from the insurgents, with a sustained small fire arms attack.

In the Ops Room, map pins were rapidly pushed into a grey map showing the positions of the three platoons and suspected insurgent position. Captain Frankie Taylor, the 2ic of the company was calmly questioning the two radio operators to establish were the contacts were coming from. But no sooner had the ground picture been established, than the Taleban melted away. There had been lots of shouting heard over the radio, as soldiers carried out tried and tested drills. There had been no reports of casualties.

Frankie and the ops team dutifully reported the incident to HQ and the rear party. Soon after, the CO of the Royal Welsh, Lieutenant Colonel Nick Lock then landed at the checkpoint for a planned visit to meet the Fire Support team both in the compound and on patrol. Having done a quick tour of the compound he was out on the ground to join up with the patrol.

It was only to be 20 minutes later that the crack of gunfire could be heard from the compound. The crack turned into a vicious exchange of shots, with each side aggressively laying down fire. The radio operators could hear the excited and charged voices of the platoon commanders panting out positions and updates. Two of the afghan soldiers had been wounded.



The compound gates were rapidly opened. However, it was not the wounded but the CO who came into the compound. “We missed the action by about 2 minutes”; there was a tinge of regret in his voice. Frankie was able to brief the CO that both casualties were walking wounded; one had been shot in the foot whilst the other had sustained shrapnel wounds to his right leg and arm. The two combat medics had rushed to their aid patching up both soldiers deftly and the platoon quickly got them out of harm’s way. Brought in by jackal vehicle, the two casualties were very quickly bandaged and made comfortable; Corporal Raphael Gbedebu and Private Jason Edwardson, the combat medics, saw to that.

“Give these guys some room”, shouted  one of Corporals in the team as concerned Afghan comrades gathered around the injured men. His tone of voice needed no translation. The two medics then set about treating their wounds gently but quickly. Both soldiers were very much aware of their injuries but had been reassured by the medics that they would be patched up and that their injuries were “very manageable”.



Frankie put in the “9-liner” report on the triage state of the casualties and requested that a helicopter casevac the wounded soldiers back to Camp Bastion. He was a thorough in his reporting as he was deft. Over the net, HQ acknowledged the request. “Boys”, said Frankie in a beguiling Welsh lilt, “let’s get these casualties to the helicopter site; medics say they can walk – job done”. Praise doesn’t come higher than that in Fire Support company. “Well not for us old and bolds”, said Frankie.



Pictures: Sqn Ldr Dee Taylor

Open for Business in Showal

By the end of February over half the bazaar in Showal is open for business, with more shops opening on a daily basis. This is a complete change of fortune. Prior to Operation Moshtarak the bazaar had been closed entirely, primarily due to the threat of IEDs.

Local Afghan people are being sent the message through shuras and the local radio station that stalls are stocked and that coalition forces are constantly patrolling the area. And word is getting out.


However, at a recent shura local people are still worried about the threat of IEDs along the village roads leading into Showal. The Afghan National Civil Order Police Commander at Showal, Colonel Abdul Mohammed said ““We are here to provide reassurance of security”.

Security patrols are 'de rigeur' in Showal, and for A Company, 1 Royal Welsh Regiment there is a keenness to ensure routes are clear and encourage people to use the market. The ANA play no small part in these patrols, with their numbers weighted at 60% of the patrol.

There is an abundance of shops and stalls open ranging from fresh produce to footballs. And certainly, the meat-seller was doing brisk business; not least amongst his customers were ANA soldiers. “The food here is good, and so very fresh” said Narjeev, the 2IC of the ANA company in Showal. To prove a point, members of the British forces were invited to dine, on a regular basis, with their Afghan hosts at supper time.


The opening of the bazaar has been welcomed by locals. A local elder who did not wish to be named said “We had to travel as far as Lashkar Gah for food, which could take up to 4 hours in a round trip”. Now his family have access again to the bazaar and he is very keen that people should able to shop locally.

Elders in the village are spreading the word that the locals should feel confident to shop at the bazaar but also feeding back to ISAF that they must continue to provide security. It is a message that is not lost on CO A Company, Major Sean Hackney.

“Our aim is to restore business as usual, pre-Taleban intimidation”. So on a security footing and commercial footing progress is definitely being made, with growth in the number of stallholders touting for business being more palpable on a daily basis.

Pictures: Squadron Leader Dee Taylor