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How the Gurkhas are fighting the Taliban with a smile
The Gurkhas are making a big impression on the people of Helmand province, but will that be enough? Ben Farmer reports from Afghanistan
The Gurkhas have become the latest weapon in the battle for hearts and minds in Afghanistan. Recently, a gaggle of dusty boys and girls warily approached the unfamiliar figures resting in a ditch shaded by fig trees. Five minutes later they were giggling in the late afternoon sun, joking with the legendary Nepalese soldiers.
Southern Nahr-e-Seraj, in the notorious Helmand province administered by the British, was last summer the battleground of the bloody Panther’s Claw offensive. Eleven British soldiers died in fighting to secure a corridor from Helmand’s capital, Lashkar Gah, to Gereshk, its economic hub. The offensive tried to extend the writ of Hamid Karzai’s ineffective national government so it could bring health, education and justice to Helmand’s residents.
Nearly 12 months on, the Gurkhas are stationed in a small strip of fertile farmland in Nahr-e-Seraj, training the Afghan police and army, building checkpoints and guarding a new road linking the main towns. Commanders believe the soldiers are ideal for the role. A shared love of Bollywood means the Gurkhas and the Afghans can often converse in Hindi or Urdu, where British soldiers are forced to rely on a handful of interpreters. The link builds bridges and brings life-saving information.
Maj Dave Jones, commander of C company, said: “I might be sitting down with an elder, but my junior rifleman might be talking to a couple of kids on a street corner who might be saying there’s a bomb hidden over there.” The Gurkhas’ suitability runs deeper than language though, said Lt Col Gez Strickland, their commanding officer. Soldiers from rural, traditional Nepal can often find it easier to understand Afghans than those from the cities of Britain or America. “There’s a cultural link which makes them inherently understand the pattern of life in a place like this,” he said. “It’s the respect for elders, the understanding of things that are important to rural communities and the similarity in attitude to life.”
“When we go out on patrol, they are very keen to talk to us and we just ask their problems,” explained Sgt Maj Shuresh Thapa, a Gurkha based in one of the dusty patrol bases. “If we killed eight or 10 [Taliban-allied] insurgents, it doesn’t make a difference, but if I get eight or 10 people on my side, it can make a huge difference.”
But when night falls, the giggling children have gone and the Gurkhas must stare tensely down their gun sights at insurgents trying to encircle their position. If they can keep the villages secure, they will form a chain of protected settlements along the route from Gereshk to Lashkar Gah.
If farmers are given security, freedom to travel, health care and education the hope is that they will turn their backs on the Taliban and embrace the Kabul regime. A clinic, police station and school are being built in the north east of their area. But although the Gurkhas are making small inroads, their efforts may not yield the required results in time for ambitious handover timetables being drawn up in London and Washington. Commanders are under growing pressure from their political masters to demonstrate progress and pave the way for Afghans to take charge of their own security.
Gen Stanley McChrystal, commander of Nato-led forces, this week gave the first hints of his frustration at the mixed success. Three months after thousands of troops took the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah in southern Helmand, in the coalition’s biggest offensive yet, he said the town remained a “bleeding ulcer”. Taliban fighters remain in the town and continue to intimidate the residents.
The 30,000 reinforcements ordered to Afghanistan last year by Barack Obama are due to begin heading home from July. Nato wants to begin handing over the most tranquil provinces to Afghan control as early as the end of this year.
Such an ambitious timetable seems remote in the 110F (43C) heat of Helmand in early summer. While a shallow security bubble is slowly growing around the Gurkha bases, patrols come under almost daily attack. In Nahr-e-Seraj, the Taliban has responded to the arrival of the Gurkhas with an effective campaign of intimidation. Those accused of helping the foreigners are threatened, beaten, imprisoned in makeshift jails, or even killed.
Two weeks ago in Paind Kalay, a village along the new Nahr-e-Seraj road, as a military construction team hoping to build schools and clinics met locals, the Taliban held a competing meeting. They told residents to leave their homes as soon as the wheat harvest was over so that they would not get in the way of attacks on the British. A few days later a convoy of 18 cars and tractors loaded with villagers’ possessions headed to Gereshk.
“Everyone, when they come to the British base to claim money for damaged crops, or to attend meetings, they are threatened by the Taliban. They say they will kill us,” explained Shahazada, a 48-year-old farmer from Paind Kalay. “The Taliban walk around during the day without weapons. They come to our houses at night.” Early this month, Malak Muhammed, an anti-Taliban local councillor was assassinated while at prayer. Twelve elders accused of siding with the British were rounded up a week later and one badly beaten.
Men such as Mohammad Anwar are at the centre of the battle for control. An educated, respected elder in Paind Kalay, he addresses council meetings with a gravity befitting his difficult position. His status and willingness to deal with the Gurkhas have made him a critical link. But one day in mid-May, gunmen delivered an ultimatum: leave the area and stop working with the foreigners, or die. As he deliberated, his house was surrounded one night by insurgents who were later seen dumping something in a nearby canal. Officers spent a tense day fearing the worst for their ally until he was found safe, having fled.
“You can be the bravest man in the world and say I’m going to stand up to you,” said Maj Shaun Chandler, a counter insurgency expert who has just returned from two years at West Point, “but if they say I am going to target your wife and family then they are not that brave.”
In Lt Col Strickland’s briefing tent a map is divided into red villages supporting the Taliban, blue villages supporting the government and green villages hanging in the balance. The map is largely a sea of green. “I liken the people to a rope in a tug of war,” Maj Chandler said. “We are pulling them and the insurgents are pulling them, trying to get them to our side. “The people of Afghanistan are by and large pragmatists. They will side with the narrative which gives them the best life.”
Agora entendo o silêncio destes meses... a Ofensiva parece que foi vencida pelos Taliban e ninguém fez uma reportagem !!
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