Opinion - News Analysis   

After the fighting, a battle for hope

Declan Walsh

In the aftermath of Operation Medusa, the anti- Taliban offensive in southern Afghanistan, NATO is scrambling to win the locals' sympathies.

THE BLACK smoke and deafening clatter of war filled the air. American warplanes screamed across the sky, pounding Taliban positions into rubble. The dusty ground trembled under a barrage of artillery. Afghan commandos probed the enemy lines, searching for weaknesses.

But as the boom of battle engulfed Pashmul, a hamlet of mud-walled farmhouses and sprawling vineyards in southern Afghanistan, the flamboyant NATO officer leading the offensive deployed an unconventional heavy metal weapon — the vintage musical kind.

"During the artillery we would play music through a set of large loudspeakers, mostly AC/DC," said Col. Stephen Williams. The 1980 classic album Back in Black was his favourite. "Rock and roll, man," he said with a smile.

The tough-talking American was speaking in the aftermath of Operation Medusa, NATO's anti-Taliban offensive in southern Afghanistan now entering its mopping-up phase. The combat — involving deep trenches, insurgents buried in bunkers and sniper positions in deserted buildings — was in many ways old school.

It ended in a welcome victory for NATO after a summer of escalating Taliban violence — 1,000 Taliban members died during Operation Medusa, according to General James Jones, as opposed to six NATO fatalities. But the war is far from won.

As thousands of villagers trickle back to their ruined homes in Panjwayi and Zhari — the two districts at the heart of the fighting — NATO is scrambling to win their sympathies with promises of help and hard cash.

It must work fast. Operation Medusa displaced about 15,000 families but only 5,000 have received humanitarian aid, according to provincial authorities. Some of the first families returned to Pashmul on September 21. Niamatullah, 19, scampered to the lip of a 7.6 m-deep crater that was once his front yard. "First we suffered from a drought. Then our money was finished. Now this," he said in dismay, gesturing into the hole.

In the coming weeks "several million dollars" will be available for reconstruction, said Brigadier General David Fraser, NATO's southern commander. The fund will rebuild homes, compensate for lost crops and, he hopes, turn "swing voters" away from the Taliban towards President Hamid Karzai's Government.

"This operation is less about killing and more about talking and engaging with the people," said Gen. Fraser.

NATO decided to bare its knuckles in western Kandahar because it feared the insurgents were trying to move on Kandahar city, formerly the centre of Taliban rule. From early August, the guerrillas started to build defensive positions in the area. "They were trying to transform themselves from a guerrilla movement into a fighting army," said Col. Williams.

Perfect for guerrilla warfare

A tour of the battlefield gave a sense of why the Taliban chose this area for its daring gambit. The terrain is perfect for guerrilla warfare. Winding lanes separate high-walled farmhouses. Old fashioned grape vines — rows of thick plants separated by trenches — offer cover to conceal soldiers. The insurgents moved between positions using ancient underground irrigation systems and dug bunkers that they fortified with iron sheets. Fighters were also positioned inside grape drying huts — tall buildings provide perfect sniper positions.

NATO intelligence detected foreigners among the fighters, including Arabic and Russian speakers. After the fighting, the soldiers found evidence of widespread casualties. "We had five to six garbage bags packed full of bloodied bandages," said Col. Williams, who estimated that his troops killed up to 200 fighters.

However, Afghan soldiers buried only 11 bodies. The rest, said Col. Williams, had been buried under cover of night or dragged to other burial places. "You could see the body signatures everywhere," he said.

But not all the fighters have gone. A day after NATO declared Operation Medusa a success, a suicide bomber on a bicycle killed four Canadian soldiers and wounded nine Afghan children. Abdul Khaliq, a senior Taliban commander who led the resistance, is believed to have escaped.

And nearly every morning last week, roadside bombs were discovered near the NATO camp in Pashmul. Most had been planted the night before.

To keep the Taliban out, NATO is building a permanent base on the edge of Pashmul and has started disbursing money for "quick impact projects" from an emergency fund of $550,000. On September 21, Col. Williams handed three tractor keys to Kandahar's Governor, Asadullah Khalid — the first of 50 tractors to be distributed to farmers.

NATO hopes the money will change minds among the "swing voters" sympathetic to the Taliban. The punishing bombing campaign has also sparked debate among the villagers about who is responsible for their woes. Haji Bilal Jan, a 48-year-old grape farmer whose son was recently detained on suspicion of belonging to the Taliban, said NATO was cruel to have destroyed his house. "There were no Talibs here. So why did they bomb us?" he said.

But another man, Niamatullah, 45, interjected: "No, that is not the real reason. The question is why did you allow the Taliban to use this village?"

To clear the area of civilians before the battle, NATO dropped warning leaflets from aeroplanes. But not everyone left. Kandahar's Governor said 17 persons died in the attacks.

Faizullah, 26, from Zayda Nan, lay in bed with a large scar across his belly. Shrapnel from a NATO bomb pierced his stomach as he carried food for his animals two weeks ago.

"We sent the women away but I stayed with my father. We had to look after our belongings," he said. But as he lay wounded on the field, Taliban fighters approached. "They said I was a spy and searched my pockets and found some phone numbers. I had to convince them they did not belong to foreigners," he said.

Col. Williams, meanwhile, has dropped his big guns and heavy metal music for green tea and long meetings with village elders. "This is like any other insurgency," he said. "If people have hope for a better life, then eventually war will go away." —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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