Leaders tackle counterinsurgency and civilian casualties

ISAF and Afghan leaders ended two days of discussions on improving counterinsurgency (COIN) operations and preventing civilian casualties by cataloguing best practices that can be shared by all units operating in Afghanistan.

Maj. Gen. Rouzi, Afghan National Police, talks to a group of more than 100 people at the first ISAF Joint Command counterinsurgency shura. General Rouzi stressed the importance of partnering to help reduce civilian casualties throughout Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Steve Horton)

More than 90 representatives from all regions of Afghanistan, the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police participated in the COIN shura, the first of its kind hosted by the ISAF Joint Command (IJC).

“We want to ensure that we are doing everything we can to reduce civilian casualties,” said U.S. Marine Col. Bradley Weisz, deputy chief of IJC Current Operations and shura coordinator. “We need to change the mindset of our troops to the COIN approach of ‘protecting the people,’ and the best way to do that is by sharing best practices and improving overall COIN awareness.”

The four main discussion topics the participants focused on were training and education, partnering with Afghan National Security Forces, escalation of force and civilian casualties, and best practices around the Afghanistan theatre of operations.

These discussions were based, in part, on observations brought back by IJC Mobile Training Teams (MTT) that were sent to gather information on how units handle escalation of force incidents and report standard operating procedures that are being used to help reduce civilian casualties.

“We need to make good decisions to help reduce civilian casualties,” Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, IJC commander said. “The MTTs bring back many good lessons of restraint and good decision making from our young soldiers.”

“75 percent of civilian casualties have occurred when we are not partnered, so it’s very important to work with our Afghan partners to solve this problem,” he added.

Some of the observations and recommendations from the discussions included the need to filter information and COIN awareness down to the lowest soldier level; getting real-life examples to the training centres for units to use; sending ANSF partners to help train units prior to deployments; and focusing more on non-kinetic measures instead of kinetic.

To help address these recommendations, a COIN working group was established to discuss lessons learned, best practices and initiatives. Additionally, a monthly IJC training and education plan is being established, and consequence-management drills are planned for units down to platoon levels.

“Overall, the COIN shura was a success in that it brought the people from around the [area of responsibility] who deal with these issue everyday together to talk about ideas and solutions to the problem of civilian casualties,” said Colonel Weisz. “This is an ongoing process and we have a long way to go, but this is a great start to lead us down the path to success.”

British troops to learn about Afghan culture in new army unit

Ministry of Defence says Bedfordshire unit is part of counter-insurgency tactics

Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian

A "cultural unit" has been set up to improve British troops' understanding of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence announced today.

The unit is based at Henlow in Bedfordshire, and the MoD said it "will help to build a picture of Helmandi society and give commanders reliable advice on the beliefs, expectations, hopes and fears of the Afghan people".


It is part of what the MoD described as the "classic counter-insurgency tactics" promoted by US commander General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan. He has emphasised the need to engage with the local population. The unit will be able to take 42 people at any one time.

About 20 defence personnel have some knowledge of Farsi or Dari, which are mutually comprehensible, and 360 of Pashto, the language of most Taliban fighters in the south of the country, according to the MoD.

Air Vice-Marshal Andy Pulford, assistant chief of the defence staff responsible for operations, said that focusing on cultural issues was essential to success in Afghanistan.

The unit "will help improve the military understanding and appreciation of the region, its people and how to do business there", he added.

A soldier from 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards was killed yesterday in the Babaji district of central Helmand province, the MoD said. He was on a foot patrol when he was struck by a roadside bomb.

The soldier was engaged in Operation Moshtarak, involving thousands of US, British and Afghan forces and designed to drive out Taliban insurgents from populated areas of central Helmand.

A defence spokesman said the number of attacks on troops was falling, though the Taliban were continuing to intimidate the local population at night.

Yesterday's fatality took the British military death toll since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001 to 279.

Most recent deaths, including three in the past week, of British soldiers have been in the Sangin area, where UK troops are supported only by some Afghan forces, north of the Moshtarak offensive.

Maj Gen Gordon Messenger, spokesman for the defence chiefs, described Sangin this week as "the most challenging area in Helmand". But it was also a "critical area" to control, he said.

British and Afghan forces earlier this month detained three men suspected of being responsible for manufacturing improvised explosive devices, the MoD said today.

Messenger played down reports that British troops were planning to leave Helmand province for deployment elsewhere in Afghanistan, including neighbouring Kandahar province. However, he added: "We can't say where they're going to be in two or three years' time."