Digging in to stay in Musa Qala

Times:

British troops were braced yesterday for their hardest challenge in the notoriously difficult town of Musa Qala in Helmand province.

Days after driving out a strong Taleban force they were preparing to hold the town against expected counterattacks and beginning to help to develop a local administration that will be supported by a jaded population.

To provide physical defences, Gurkha engineers were using diggers to pile sand into giant hessian bags in front of a derelict building that last held Taleban fighters. Afghan soldiers were setting up machinegun posts on nearby roofs. But a more difficult operation was persuading the people that they will be better off under the Afghan Government than supporting the Taleban. Some admitted that they did not really care who held the town, they just wanted security. Ahmad Nurzai, a shopkeeper, opened for business, selling biscuits and fruit to American paratroopers. A few days ago the Taleban had been his customers. He said: “The Taleban are poor people. They didn’t have money to buy things. I don’t care about politics really, I just want to live without worrying about war and criminals.”

Elsewhere, Afghan troops were handing out blankets and prayer mats for adults and boiled sweets for children. People who had fled to the desert were returning and being greeted warmly by the Afghan soldiers.

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With the town secure and its population returning, the British started an operation that has been planned for months to rebuild the town. In the afternoon they welcomed the first Afghan building contractors, who had risked the drive up from Lashkar Gah through bandit country. Britain has more than £3 million set aside for rebuilding, with a mosque project at the top of its list of priorities. The town was barely damaged during the operation but a number of buildings have suffered from neglect.

Town elders will meet in a council called a Shura in the next few days to choose a district governor, and the Kabul Government will make Musa Qala a test case for its authority.

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The Times also has this story about farmers returning to Musa Qala. This story tells of finding significant quantities of opium. Bronwen Maddox discuses the importance of taking Musa Qala. Photos of the action around Musa Qala are here.

The significance of this story is that it appears the Afghan army and the Brits are serious about keeping Musa Qala out of Taliban hands. Hopefully this will help inconvenience the drug sales that supports the Taliban. It should also protect the people from their return.