Introduction
An officer meets a local in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, May 2006. NAM 2006-10-3-6
"...persistent low-level dirty fighting" - Lieutenant General David Richards, commenting on operations in southern Afghanistan, August 2006.
On 1 May 2006 British soldiers of 16 Air Assault Brigade took over security duties from the US Army in the dangerous Helmand province of southern Afghanistan.
More than 2000 British troops are now based there and they will eventually number over 4500. They will play a leading role in NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) peacekeeping operation in Afghanistan.
Fighting the Taleban
British and Afghan soldiers patrol Lashkar Gah, July 2006. NAM 2006-10-3-21
The current British engagement began in October 2001 following the terrorist attacks on the United States. As part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the British assisted in the overthrow of the Taleban regime and the campaign against Al Qaeda which used Afghanistan as a safe haven and training ground. They also helped safeguard Afghanistan's first ever parliamentary election in September 2005. British forces continue to work with the new Afghan government to build stability and maintain security across the country.
A Chinook lands at Nowzad to pick up troops from the Helmand Task Force, July 2006. NAM 2006-10-3-20
They are helping the newly-formed Afghan National Army (ANA) fight militant Taleban and insurgent groups based around the Pakistan border. They are also targeting the drugs trade that funds many of the insurgents. Helmand produces nearly 20% of the world's opium.
Fourth Afghan War?
The current deployment is not the first British intervention in Afghanistan. Fearful of Russian intentions in the region, the British were engaged in the country in 1839, 1878 and 1919. On each occasion they sought to stabilize the country and make sure pro-British rulers were in power.
During each campaign they faced attacks from not only Afghan tribesmen and Islamic extremists, but from the war-like tribes of the North West Frontier and Baluchistan regions that border Afghanistan. British Generals had to resist these raiders and get their convoys through to Afghanistan. They were frequently ambushed in the mountains and treacherous passes.
Tribesmen in the Bolan Pass, c1838. NAM 1971-02-33-481
Echoes of the past
35th (Sikh) Regiment repelling an attack, North West Frontier, 1897. NAM 1960-03-31
Today’s mission has very strong echoes of these past operations. The Maiwand district, near the provincial border between Kandahar and Helmand, is today a stronghold for the insurgents currently fighting the British.
Back in 1880, it was the location of a major British defeat during the Second Afghan War (1878-1880). Since 2001, British and American Special Forces have been assisting Pakistani troops track down Al Qaeda and Taleban insurgents on the border between Afghanistan and Waziristan.
During much of the 19th and early 20th centuries the British-Indian Army was fighting on the same ground, against fighters from the same ethnic groups, as their latter day counterparts. Given the history of the region, which has seen the British and Soviet Empires repulsed, it is not altogether surprising that the current deployment has been met with such tenacious resistance.
