Frost's Meditations Logo Helmand Province Map shows the Helmand Province of AfghanistanHelmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

It is in the south-west of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation. The population is 745,000 and the surface area is 58,584 square kilometres. The population is largely Pashtun, with Baloch Brahui and Tajik minorities who are primarily resident in laskargah . Helmand is the world's largest opium-producing region, responsible for 42% of the world's supply. This is more than the whole of Myanmar, which is the second largest producing nation after Afghanistan. USAID programmes Current military situation Border with Pakistan Cities Districts Politicians See also USAID programmes Gulab Mangal - Governor of Helmand Province in AfghanistanThe current governor of Helmand Province Gulab Mangal Helmand was the center of a U.S. development program in the 1960s - it was even nicknamed "little America". The program laid out tree-lined streets in Lashkar Gah, built a network of irrigation canals and constructed a large hydroelectric dam. The program was abandoned when the communists seized power in 1978. More recently the American USAID program has contributed to a counter-narcotics initiative called the Alternative Livelihoods Program (ALP) in the province. It pays communities to work to improve their environment and economic infrastructure as an alternative to Opium poppy farming. The project undertakes drainage and canal rehabilitation projects. In 2005 and 2006 there have been problems in getting promised finance to communities and this is a source of considerable tension between the farmers and the Coalition forces.

Current military situation The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. This marked the beginning of the U.S. War on Terrorism. The stated purpose of the invasion was to capture Osama bin Laden, destroy Al-Qaeda, and remove the Taliban regime which had provided support and safe harbor to Al-Qaeda. The U.S. and Britain led

the aerial bombing campaign, with ground forces supplied primarily by the Afghan Northern Alliance and supplemented by NATO troops. The U.S. military name of the conflict was Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). It was announced on January 27, 2006 in the British Parliament that a NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would be replacing the US troops in the province as part of Operation Herrick. The British 16th Air Assault Brigade would be the core of the force in Helmand Province. British bases are located in the towns of Sangin, Lashkar Gah and Gerishk. As of Summer 2006, Helmand was one of the districts involved in Operation Mountain Thrust, a combined NATO-Afghan mission targeted at Taliban fighters in the south of the country. In July 2006, this offensive mission essentially stalled in Helmand as NATO, primarily British, and Afghan troops were forced to take increasingly defensive positions under heavy insurgent pressure. In response, British troop levels in the province were increased, and new encampments were established in Sangin and Gerishk. Fighting has been particularly heavy in the towns of Sangin, Naway, Nawsad and Garmser. There are reports that the Taliban see Helmand province as a key testing area for their ability to take and hold Afghan territory from NATO and Afghan National Army troops . Commanders on the ground have described the situation as the most brutal conflict the British army has been involved in since the Korean war. In Autumn 2006, British troops started to reach "cessation of hostilities" agreements with local Taliban forces around the district centres where they had been stationed earlier in the summer. Under the terms of the agreement, both sets of forces will withdraw from the conflict zone. This agreement from the British forces implies that the strategy of holding key bases in the district, as requested by Hamid Karzai, is essentially untenable with the current levels of British troop deployment. The agreement is also a setback for Taliban fighters, who were desperate to consolidate their gains in the province, but are under heavy pressure from various NATO offensives. News reports identified the insurgents involved in the fighting as a mix of Taliban fighters and warring tribal groups, primarily the Ishakzai and Alikozai, who are heavily involved in the province's lucrative opium trade. Fighting continued throughout the winter, with British and allied troops taking a more pro-active stance against the Taliban. Several operations were launched including the more recent Operation Silicone at the start of spring. On May 12, 2007, Mullah Dadullah, one of the Taliban's top commanders, along with 11 of his men were killed by NATO and Afghan forces in Helmand. On May 8, 2007, between 21 and 40 civilians were killed by U.S. air strikes in Heratyan village, Sangin District. On 22th June 2007, NATO fighters attacked alleged insurgents in South Afghanistan. They targeted several houses in the southern part of Helmand province. What is not clear is exactly how many people died. It is known that women and children were among the dead, some local leaders say over 100 people were killed. The US and NATO say they do not have civilian casualty figures. Civilian deaths have infuriated Afghans. Afghan president Hamid Karzai has condemned the forces for carelessness and viewing Afghan lives as "cheap." He has also blamed the Taliban for using civilians as human shields. President Hamid Karzai ordered a six-man team to conduct a more thorough investigation into the dozens of deaths in Helmand province, said Sher Mohammad Akhanzada, a member of parliament from the province. Karzai accused NATO of careless operation. Border with Pakistan

Helmand has a southern border with the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Many domestic and international observers have criticized Pakistan's efforts towards securing the border against Taliban insurgents, who are reported to use Balochistan as a training and staging area. Some reports cite the political alliance of Pakistan's military government with Balochistan's pro-Taliban Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam party as the reason for Pakistan's reluctance to commit to greater security measures. Cities Lashkar Gah Lashkar Gah (alternative name: Bost) is a city in southern Afghanistan, the capital of Helmand province. The population is about 46,000. It is situated between the Helmand and Arghandab rivers. Lashkar Gah is linked by highways with Kandahar to the east, Zaranj to the west and Herat to the north-west. It is mostly very arid and desolate. However, farming does exist around the Helmand and Arghandab rivers. There is an airfield (Bost Airport), located on east bank of Helmand river 5 miles north of the junction of the Helmand and Argahandab rivers with gravel sufaced runway. The modern city of Lashkar Gah was built as a headquarters for American engineers working on the Helmand valley irrigation project in the 1950s. Lashkar Gah was built in American style, with broad tree-lined streets and brick houses with no walls separating them from the street. In the wake of the Soviet invasion and the long Afghan civil war, the trees mostly came down and walls went up. The massive Helmand irrigation project in the 1940s-1970s created one of the most extensive farming zones in southern Afghanistan, opening up many thousands of hectares of desert to human cultivation and habitation. The project focused on three large canals: the Boghra, Shamalan, and Darweshan. The new communities of Nad-i-Ali and Marja (now two of the largest districts in Helmand province) were settled by mostly Pashtun migration from all corners of the country. Responsibility for maintaining the canals was given to the Helmand Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA), a semi-independent government agency whose authority (in its heyday) rivaled that of the provincial governors. Following the deployment of British forces to Helmand Province, Lashkar Gah has served as the Headquarters location for British forces serving on Op HERRICK.

Sangin Sangin is a town in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, with population of approximately 14,000 people. It is located in the valley of the Helmand River at 888 m altitude,95 km to the North of Lashkar Gah. Sangin is notorious as one of the central locations of the opium trade in the south of the country, and is also a town that has traditionally supported the Taliban. Sangin also houses the main bazaar for Sangin District. On 31 July 2005 a United Nations convoy of six vehicles came under attack by Taliban forces lying in ambush some 2 km south of the town. All personnel including the international UN staff member managed to escape by reversing their route only to come under fire by a US Army patrol of Humvee vehicles that were advancing to the location of the fire fight. Two Afghan personnel, one driver and the armed guard commander from the Ministry of Interior were wounded by the friendly fire and evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar. The armoured vehicle that the UN worker was travelling in was unable to be driven due to being hit with approximately fifteen rounds of fire including two rounds from a .50 caliber machine gun. The retreating Taliban were identified crossing the nearby river some 1,500 metres to th

As of summer 2006, British and Canadian troops have established a forward operating base on the outskirts of the town and are engaged in heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents and allied opium traffickers. A number of British and Canadian troops were killed during fighting in the town, including Cpl Bryan Budd (3 PARA) who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Districts Baghran (district) Musa Qala Politicians Asadullah Wafa Assadullah Wafa a governor of the Afghan province of Helmand, and formerly governor of Kunar Province of Afghanistan and a previous governor of the Paktia Province where he was succeeded by Hakim Taniwal. His first name is sometimes spelled "Asadullah". He was born in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Assadullah is best known for his time as governor of Paktia when he led a group of tribal elders to work with the United States government to establish an amnesty program for Taliban fighters in an attempt to bring an end to the fighting by separating the rank-and-file troops from their leadership. It is unclear whether this specific program ever went ahead, but he was subsequently transferred to Kunar to continue his work by negotiating with the local Hezbi Islami group. He was also governor of Kunar during the June 29, 2005 shooting down of a Chinook helicopter in the Kunar province, the largest to date single day death-toll by American troops in the region. He subsequently reported that the United States launched a retaliation strike against a Taliban base in the area, killing 18 women and children. Dad Mohammad Khan Dad Mohammad Khan, locally known as Amir Dado, is a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Afghanistan representing the Helmand province. He is the former chief of intelligence for the Helmand province, and ran unsuccessfully as second vice-presidential running mate to Sayyed Abdul Hadi Dabir in the 2004 Afghan presidential election. Dad Mohammad has been the target of several Taliban attacks as have members of his family. Sher Mohammed Akhundzada Sher Mohammed Akhundzada was the governor of Helmand province in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 until December 2005 when he was appointed as a MP in the National Assembly of Afghanistan by President Hamid Karzai. The appointment of Sher Mohammed to Parliament was reportedly influenced by NATO forces, who believe Sher Mohammed to be a major opium smuggler. In early 2005, Sher Mohammed's offices were raided by counter-narcotics agents who found 9 metric tons of opium. As of Summer 2006, Sher Mohammed has formed a paramilitary group, ostensibly to fight insurgents in Helmand province. This action is very controversial in light of Afghanistan's violent factional history, Sher Mohammed's alleged drug activities and the disarmament process taking place elsewhere i

Dishu

Garmsir

Gerishk

Kajaki Khanashin Nawzad Sangin Washir

Lashkargah

Nad Ali Nawa-I-Barakzayi

Engineer Mohammad Daoud Engineer Mohammad Daoud was the governor of Helmand province in Afghanistan. Daoud was appointed in December 2005, and replaced in December 2006. The The Times of London

reported that the British government requested Daoud's appointment. 4,000 British troops were posted to Helmand, following Daoud's appointment. Daoud had requested additional British troops. The Times report described Daoud as one of the few Governors of Afghanistan who observers were confident was honest. During a telephone interview with The Times, following his firing, Daoud said: 'I think in Afghanistan, particularly Helmand province, the opium business has a strong role in everything security, administration, corruption, terrorist activities. The mafia or drug smugglers are against eradication, law enforcemen See also British troops face decades in Afghanistan How to be a jihadi: Taliban's training secrets The Coming War in Pakistan Afghanistan - the return of the Taliban Islamic conquest of Afghanistan Readers please email comments to: editorial AT martinfrost.ws including full name Note: martinfrost.ws contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner. meditations top StatCounter - Free Web Tracker and Counter