While there are no visible parallels between Nepal and Afghanistan, think of it as a bigger, tougher land that has lived through the ages of history to tell tales about its survival. This is a country that has been left in ruins by great emperors like Mohammed of Ghor, Genghis Khan and Timur Lang. Much of Afghanistan’s architecture and landmarks were destroyed during the periodic invasions in the last century. What lives today is the legend about how this used to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Well, it still is. But with a pinch of danger. Take my word for it.
I recently visited Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, a mere 300 kilometers from Quetta in Pakistan. Like much of Nepal’s south, Helmand is a vast mass of plains, mostly dry and humid. But unlike sugarcane and mangoes in the Terai, Helmand has its reputation for being the largest producer of opium in the world. Add to those poppy fields, a tinge of Taliban trouble and you cook the perfect recipe for disaster. Today, Helmand as the “Taliban Heartland” is one of the most dangerous regions in Afghanistan. At the same time, Helmand is also God’s gift to Afghanistan. Every morning, the sun emerges from the deep blue waters of the Helmand River, the longest river in Afghanistan that runs right through the city of Lashkar Gah. In the evenings, the sun disappears into the faraway loops on the desert. The roadsides are lush green with watermelons for sale while the opposite side of the road is full of Nan-e-Afghani, Afghanistan’s national bread, which appear like posters on the walls of tiny shops. Children wave at the passing British Army convoys with smiles on their faces and the British soldiers hold their palms against their chest as a sign of respect for the locals.
But it is not just smiles and watermelons welcoming the British in Lashkar Gah’s buzzing streets. Suicide bombers run amok in the bustling crowds, and IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) await drivers at every wrong turn of the steering wheel. Regular patrols outside the city limits frequently come in contact with the Taliban, leading to grueling firefights often ending in severe injuries and deaths.
Driving through the streets of the busy market, it is natural for the security forces to become weary of foul players, who are waiting for their golden moment to attain martyrdom. To keep suicide bombers at bay, soldiers on patrol warn every driver on the street to slow down with hand signals and fire “mini flares” into the air. If that doesn´t work, a warning gunshot follows.
These routines, however, do not guarantee a one hundred percent success. Just last month, Corporal Kumar Pun of the Royal Gurkha Rifles and three other British soldiers were injured during a foot patrol after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the local bazaar.
“It is difficult to understand and fight an enemy that is willing to shred himself into pieces,” said a British officer, referring to the suicide bombers. “They could be any one among these smiling faces.”
Most recently, the Taliban have escalated their attacks on the Afghan National Police (ANP), killing them in massive numbers. An organization marred by corruption and disorder, the ANP has one of the most difficult tasks of engaging with the Taliban. Many of these policemen, who were in the Mujahideen during the Soviet invasion in the 1970s, are under-equipped and poorly trained to fight a dedicated enemy like the Taliban.
Training these policemen has become a major task of the security forces. In the last couple of years, British Gurkhas have been mentoring the members of the Afghan National Police, teaching them everything from how to run a vehicle checkpoint to how to run an operation tactically. But what really seems to be difficult instilling in these policemen is the sense of motivation and discipline.
The frustration of this chaotic war can be seen engraved in the foreheads of many Afghanis in the country. I spoke to a group of young Afghani boys who were riding their bicycles outside a police check-post in Lashkar Gah. Among the Afghans I have met so far, these young boys seemed to be the smartest bunch. Apart from their native Pashto, most of them spoke fluent English and Urdu, and even Persian.
“There is no motivation in you when you have to live life by the day,” one of them said. “We plan our life by the day, because the next day is uncertain.”
But not everyone shared these sentiments. In the city of Kandahar, about 450 km northeast of Kabul, I met a group of local journalists. One of those journalists said that much of the dangers among locals are highly exaggerated.
“Yes, there are trenches dug around the country to attack the security forces,” he said, “but the locals have always been able to go about their daily lives as usual.”
I begged to differ and asked him why: if that was the case, the Taliban would threaten to kill the locals who would attempt to assist the security forces.
“Well, that is a different case,” he said.
Afghani or a non-Afghani, if you are deemed unfavorable to the interests of Taliban, you are a breathing, walking target in Afghanistan.
Unlike most enemies, it is not the weapons or the size of the fighters that makes Taliban a formidable enemy – it is the pure fanaticism for terror. When you can’t identify your enemy until he shoots at you or triggers a bomb, winning a war becomes less probable. When you have fanaticism mixed with the disguise of a normal Afghan with turban, beard and a kurta, things become even more complicated.
But all this could soon change for better or for worse when the United States deploys 20, 000 new soldiers in an attempt to up the ante against the Taliban. The bad part is the coming of an even fiercer conflict that would cost more lives, both Americans as well as Afghani. The good part is that America’s deployment of additional forces would give other countries in the coalition to refocus its approach on Afghanistan.
Recall the Aafno Gaun Afai Banaun (Build Your Village Yourselves) program in Nepal several years ago. The Canadians are experimenting with a similar initiative where they have started rebuilding and challenging the local Afghans to rebuild their country, one community at a time. Their goal is to push back the influx of Taliban into these towns from where they launch frequent attacks on NATO forces.
In Deh-E-Bagh, a town right outside Kandahar, local residents have been provided with a few solar-paneled streetlights, new roads, small concrete buildings and a revamped irrigation system for their crops – all made possible by the Canadian dollars, technical assistance and major security enforcement. Canada plans to expand this model to other small communities in Kandahar so that they can rebuild themselves under the security of Canadian forces.
It maybe too early to evaluate the efficacy of these programs, but the locals are all smiles about these new gifts. For a country whose most towns and villages are overwhelmed by gunshots and rocket attacks, a few street lights and improved irrigation canals have definitely raised new hopes.
With the help of similar initiatives and consistent international support, Afghanistan has the opportunity to make significant progress. But it needs a new momentum. The upcoming elections in August will be a huge component in deciding where the country chooses to go in the next four or five years. Likewise, the security forces could gain an immense moral support from the locals if they accelerate their efforts to reduce civilian casualties during this war.
Assuming these two factors run smooth simultaneously, although there are many doubts in the air, things might start to look slightly positive for Afghans.
But being too positive and thinking too far ahead is not something you would consider in Afghanistan. Like it or not, this war will not be over anytime soon. In fact, the real war is only about to begin. For the first time since the American invasion in 2001, the United States has decided that its real frontline on war against terror is Afghanistan, not Iraq. As it begins to gradually pull out its troops from Iraq, U.S. Marines have increasingly gotten in the mindset to put their training into practice. So expect abundant of nastiness. Expect more rockets landing against the mud walls. Imagine more gunshots piercing the the body. Anticipate more bloody flesh to fly in the air in the name of Allah. The wrinkles on the faces of old Afghans tell stories about what they have already endured in the last thirty years. The faces of young and beautiful Afghans will be marred by even more unpleasant tragedies as the war in Afghanistan sets on to go full throttle to the next level.
To put this in perspective, take this ongoing conflict in Afghanistan. Multiply that by one hundred and what you will get is a grim product of the bloodiest war in the history of wars. Welcome to Afghanistan.
(All photos by Anup Kaphle.)
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