Afghanistan: Moshtarak a success...now we'll rebuild

By Bob Roberts Daily Mirror
Pictures by Maj Paul Smyth

Aid was ordered into the old Taliban badlands yesterday as our forces declared success in Operation Moshtarak.

After weeks of fighting, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth and International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander went to the front line to see the results of the huge military operation.

Walking through the village of Khowshhal Kalay

And in the Helmand village of Khowshhal Kalay, where just three months ago the Taliban ruled, the Mirror joined the two men on foot patrol. Around 600 insurgents died here in heavy fighting as well as two British soldiers.

It is a dusty, dirty place with irrigation ditches filled with green water.

Ramshackle mud buildings line the rough tracks, some still showing the damage of fighting.

An Afghan National Policeman in the village of Khowshhal Kalay

Fresh opium poppies are being grown in small fields. But a road impassable a few months ago now has open shops with people willing to shake hands with British ministers without fear of bloody reprisals.

Ragged children play in the streets. A mosque with a tower used by Taliban snipers is being rebuilt. There are heavily fortified police checkpoints.

The foundations of a new school are also being built. Within a month it will provide education for 600 boys and girls.

Before Moshtarak, Forward Patrol Base Sangaan, where British troops were stationed here, was under siege. Soldiers could not leave without heavy fighting. A Grenadier Guard grins as he says: "We haven't been shot at for three weeks.'' Brigadier James Cowan, in charge of UK military operations in Helmand, is a cautious man. Asked whether Operation Moshtarak was a victory, he says: "I don't like the word victory.

"It suggests one army defeating another. We are here to win over the people.'' But pushed he makes clear the operation is a success. "There is more to be done but we have made very good progress.'' Standing in Forward patrol Base Samsor after his walkabout, Mr Ainsworth said: "The foundations have been laid. We have seen it today... smiling Afghans, happy to walk up and engage with us.'' He admitted there was likely to be a counteroffensive to retake the ground. But now the work to rebuild the village in the district of Nad e Ali and other areas begins.

Mr Alexander announced yesterday there would be an extra £28million invested here over the next three years. He said: "As soon as the fighting stops the stabilisation begins.

"The money will contribute to the roads, to the irrigation, to the seeds this population needs in the future."

Khowshhal is a small, scruffy village in a far-flung part of Afghanistan.

An RAF Chinook flies in the visitors to Khowshhal Kalay

But the soldiers who fought here and the politicians who visit believe it provides a big answer to whether the war in Afghanistan is winnable. It is.

UK sends £50m more to Afghanistan

The UK is committing an extra £50m in development money to Afghanistan.

The money will pay for a new road in southern Helmand province and refurbishment of a power plant, as well as farming and job creation projects.

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander told BBC News that tackling poverty was the best way to tackle the insurgency in the country.

Helmand is "bracing itself for what's expected to be a summer of violence", said the BBC's Ian Pannell in Kabul.

The latest announcement sees the UK committing a total of £510m to Afghanistan over the next four years.

'Violent insurgency'

Helmand province is the focus of most of the UK's military and financial commitment to Afghanistan.

The UK has about 9,000 troops stationed in the country and 149 have been killed since the beginning of operations in 2001.

Our correspondent said: "Helmand is afflicted by a violent insurgency, widespread poverty and drugs. The province remains the largest centre of opium production in the world."

He added: "The millions of pounds spent and the hundreds of lives lost in Helmand have failed to reduce the violence.
"The province is bracing itself for what's expected to be a summer of violence, as thousands of US troops arrive here in the coming months."

Last month, the US announced plans to deploy 17,000 more troops to the country, on top of roughly 33,000 already serving there.

The extra UK aid money is earmarked for projects including construction of a major road linking the towns of Lashkar Gah and Gereshk.

It will also go towards a hydro-electric plant to boost power supplies to Gereshk and agriculture and rural enterprise projects to create rural jobs.

"This four-year promise to contribute £510m to Afghanistan reaffirms our long-term commitment to helping this once proud country recover from 30 years of war," said Mr Alexander.