Small peace dividends in Taliban's southern gateway

ARGHANDAB VALLEY: Lieutenant Chris Choi receives a mix of stares and scowls as he shakes hands with curious Afghans on their way to prayer in the restive Arghandab district of southern Kandahar.

But he says the mere presence of the turbaned men walking through heavy traffic to the Haji Baba Wali shrine is a sign of progress stemming from the brittle peace in an area that was once a key Taliban supply route.

Nearby, half-dressed children dart in and out of the murky canal waters that help irrigate fertile pomegranate fields.

Such scenes would not have been possible a year ago, when the Arghandab valley resembled a chessboard of American forces vying with the Taliban for control of Afghanistan's southern heartlands.

"Last year we could not go out to the farms and could not sell our produce, but now you can see people are here," said fruit vendor Shafih Ullah, 20.

For decades, the Taliban wielded influence over the district's 70,000-plus residents spread across 70 villages until a surge of US troops was ordered last summer, pushing the insurgents to the fringes of the valley.

Now, despite the loss and injury of many men during intense battles, soldiers say there are signs of the "fragile" gains cited by General David Petraeus as he left his position as top US commander in the war last week.

US forces are trying to speed up "hearts and minds" development work and train up their Afghan counterparts to ensure that the district does not return to Taliban control as foreign forces begin to leave for home.

All 33,000 US surge troops ordered into Afghanistan in late 2009 to quell the insurgency largely focused in the southern region are due to leave by the end of 2012, with the entire combat mission due to end by the end of 2014.

"The instruction for us was to be here, but not to disrupt the flow of the local community and economy," said Choi, of 1st Battalion 67th Armoured Regiment, overseeing the counter-insurgency work in the valley.

"But you can't let your guard down."

Improvised explosive devices or IEDs, the most common cause of death and injury for foreign forces and civilians in the war, remain a problem for the troops, with several bomb-making cells still at work in some nearby villages.

A military map peppered with red dots indicates that the Taliban still hold sway in some areas.

"But overall, when you look at the entire Arghandab, you have a 50 percent reduction in activity from last year," said Choi's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Simmering, referring to non-IED-related insurgent attacks.

The priority now, he says, is maintaining security while empowering local leaders to effectively govern and ensure there are no disputes that could be exploited by the local Taliban.

But high-profile assassinations including the killing of the president's brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, known as the "king of Kandahar", nearly two weeks ago, and the murder of Arghandab's provincial police chief in April, threaten progress.

And some villagers blame the US forces for bringing danger with them.

"If they weren't here, we would feel better. They went to our villages in the first place, and that was why they were attacked by the Taliban," said 24-year-old Moh Bullah.

Soldiers and villagers agree that critical to the future of the farming district, just north of the volatile city of Kandahar, will be the strength of local Afghan forces.

"If our own government can give us an army that can really stand up on its own and protect us, then there will be no problem when they (the Americans) leave. But I am not too sure about their capabilities now," said fruit vendor Shafih Ullah.

Simmering said some problems were inevitable as the NATO-led mission winds down.

"As we pull back, will there be a spike in violence? Yes, there may be but that does not mean that everything will fall apart," he said.

"You have to let the Afghans fail sometimes and let them settle their own problems, otherwise learning will not take place. We just have to be close enough to ensure that they do not fail catastrophically."

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011