NationStates Jolt Archive

UK policy in tatters as Afghan town falls
03 February 2007

A central element of British policy in Afghanistan, the Musa Qala agreement, appeared to be in tatters last night after Taliban forces overran the town it is named after. They bulldozed and burnt its administrative centre, and abducted opponents.

An exodus was under way from the town in Helmand province with people abandoning their homes in fear of air strikes amid reports that Taliban fighters were digging trenches as British and Nato forces moved into the area. There were also accounts, unconfirmed, of fighting place in the nearby district of Sangin.

Musa Qala has become a strategic and symbolic focal point since British forces withdrew after they reached a deal in November under which elders agreed to keep out the Taliban.

Paratroopers from 16 Air Assault Brigade Regiment lost six comrades defending the centre which was destroyed yesterday by the Taliban.

The Musa Qala agreement, brokered by the British and signed by the Helmand governor at the time, Mohammed Daoud, a British protégé, has been held up by the UK military and officials as a template for other volatile areas. Critics said the pact was a sham and the elders powerless.

© 2006 Independent News
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2211561.ece
my2cents: the elders are powerless indeed.

As per usual, no link...

What exactly is Independent News, and why is the article dated 2006?

You know, after 5 or 6 years of this shit, my answer is an fortunate 'meh'.

They were ever away?

I hope they enjoy holding the twn wile they can...

They were ever away?
They had a biscuit break in 2002 for about half an hour and it was assumed that they'd all buggered off, if memory serves correctly.

Meh, some idiots ought to have fixed that up before running into Iraq....

Meh, some idiots ought to have fixed that up before running into Iraq....

Why bother when they could pass that job onto their dupes, erm, allies?

Why bother when they could pass that job onto their dupes, erm, allies?
Or indeed - why bother at all?

Why do all your thread titles start with these > ## ?

:confused:

Why bother when they could pass that job onto their dupes, erm, allies?

Well.... I really hope that Afghanistan gets peace. And, not putting every resource on hand into there reduces the likelihood of that happening.

Why do all your thread titles start with these > ## ?

:confused:
So if you put them in alphabetical order, his are first. It annoys the shit out of me, but oh well.

Or indeed - why bother at all?

That's what they told themselves after arriving and realizing the oil was further west.

So if you put them in alphabetical order, his are first. It annoys the shit out of me, but oh well.

Ah, so there is a reason. Thanks.

As per usual, no link ...What exactly is Independent News?Its an OK newspaper.. Its an UK newspaper.
http://www.independent.co.uk/
fair and balanced.


and why is the article dated 2006?I think you need to read it again.

They were ever away?
...


actually you have a point.

Since the OP still hasn't managed to link to the article...

Here's something that talks about what I assume is the same town.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9899312/

What exactly is Independent News, and why is the article dated 2006?
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2211561.ece

Since the OP still hasn't managed to link to the article...

Here's something that talks about what I assume is the same town.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9899312/

thanks.

Since the OP still hasn't managed to link to the article...

Here's something that talks about what I assume is the same town.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9899312/

OP also manages to be late :cool:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=516783

The Taliban's been "back" for a while.

The Taliban's been "back" for a while.

Yeah, mainly because we haven't been putting the effort in to fighting the war there. Thanks to Iraq, the war in Afghanistan (the one against real terrorists) has been ignored, underfunded, and lacks sufficient numbers to keep fighting the Taliban.

So, rather than pull out of Iraq and focus on winning Afghanistan, we're going to stay in Iraq, continue to ignore Afghanistan, and lose both. Genius. :rolleyes:

I called this.

A whole district falls. Glorious victory in war on terror.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/world/asia/20afghan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Taliban Seize Rural District in Southwest as Police Flee
By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 19 — Taliban insurgents seized control of a district in southwestern Afghanistan on Monday as the Afghan police abandoned their post and fled, officials said.

The district is the second to fall into Taliban hands this month, and its capture underlines the precarious hold of the government and NATO troops in the remote districts of southern Afghanistan.

The midmorning attack occurred in the Baqwa district of Farah Province, where few NATO or Afghan troops are deployed. A small number of American soldiers run a reconstruction team in the provincial capital, but the districts are left to the local police, who lack staff and weapons.

The police in Baqwa town warned their provincial headquarters that the Taliban were advancing in such large numbers they could not hold the district office, according to Baryalai Khan, the secretary to the provincial police chief.

“At 11:30, we lost telephone and radio contact with our police in Baqwa district, and it seems the district is in the hands of the Taliban,” he said. “According to the people of the town, our policemen escaped in different directions, and the Taliban are in the district, although not in the center for fear of bombardment.”

“We don’t know if there are any casualties among our police,” he said. “We have no contact with them.” Four policemen were killed and three wounded by a remote-controlled mine in the same district on Sunday, he added.

Taliban forces have often overrun district offices in the past, sacking them and then usually leaving after a few hours. But this year they have seized and held entire regions.

British NATO forces and Afghan troops, however, claimed success in an attack over the weekend on a Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province, just east of Farah.

The operation unfolded south of Gamsir and concentrated on three major compounds, destroying a tunnel complex linking them.

“We were able to hit them hard in the largest deliberate operation there has been down there, and disrupt their command and control,” Lt. Col. Rory Bruce told Reuters on Monday from the British task force headquarters.

He said that a “significant number” of enemy fighters had been killed, but did not give a precise figure. There were no British casualties.

On Sunday, insurgents fired twice on a Canadian military convoy moving at night through the southern city of Kandahar, a NATO statement said. Two Afghans — a homeless man and a police officer — were killed by the Canadians in the ensuing firefight, the statement said. NATO said both shootings were under investigation.