CHAPTER 21

Sangin, Helmand, Afghanistan

Wednesday 12 Jul 06 1315 hrs AFT

From some fifty kilometers north of the city of Kandahar to some thirty kilometers to its west lies the Shah Maqsoud Range separating the Arghandab river valley from that of the Helmand River. The range consists of a series of mountains that rise a thousand and more meters higher than the valleys below. Another, smaller range, only some three to five hundred meters higher than the valleys lay between the Shah Maqsoud and the Helmand. Here, intermittently ran the Ghorek River. Its headwaters, when the winter snowfall had been sufficient, came from the northern end of the Shah Maqsoud and from even further north beyond that. Over thousands of years its rushing, tumbling waters had carved a channels that spilled through the valleys, carved passes in the mountains, gushed onto the plain east of Sangin and eventually, splitting the town in half, emptied itself into the Helmand at the same point where the Musa Qaleh River joins in from the west.

Unlike the Helmand and the Musa Qaleh, the Ghorek was bone dry at this time of year. Its seasonal flooding potential, however, ensured that no one built compounds on the hard-packed soil where the channels had carved their way. The river would be expected from time to time to simply wash away anything built out of the usual clay and mud that made up southern Afghan walls.

The safe house allocated to Norowz sat on the very northern edge of this flood plain. It was a mere two kilometers upstream from where the British now had a patrol base exactly where the Ghorek ran into the Helmand. Previously it had been fortified and occupied by an ANA platoon and part of a US Special Forces team. The expanded base was now the focal point of the region’s Taliban leadership.

Norowz had driven his motorcycle down from Musa Qaleh during the night and had arrived and been welcomed by his hosts well before first light. Tofan had arrived from the east a few hours later. By dawn they had confirmation from all of the infiltration lanes that the groups had been stopped, were resting and resupplying and awaiting orders. A third of the groups, just under a hundred men, had reached the green zone of the Helmand. The remainder was held up in a string of villages nestled in the next valley starting at Ghorek and running north from there.

The plan had been made that morning and by noon the instructions had already been sent out by motorcycle couriers. Tonight everyone would start the trek back home.

Their task complete, Norowz and Tofan left their weapons behind, and following the banks of the riverbed, took a walk to the town’s bazaar. Their hosts had told them that the British patrols were few and that they did not attack men without weapons. The hated ANP had been too frightened of the Taliban and hadn’t been seen here for several weeks at least. They should be careful and not take unnecessary risks but moving about was quite possible.

The area showed signs of recent fighting and was quiet. Not deserted but nearly so. They climbed up from the riverbank onto the main road that ran through the town center’s shopping district. Up and down the road the myriad of ramshackle stalls were mostly closed. Directly across the road, the out-wash area of the river was used as an open-air marketplace, but deserted at this time. Beyond this place, just down by the Helmand would be where the British had their base.

Tofan stared down the slight slope to the river. “We have to get these people out of our country, brother.”

 

— § —

 

Their walk had taken them northeast along the main road for some five kilometers from the town center. The first kilometer had started with numerous tightly packed shops lining the side of the road but then thinned out to a few commercial compounds and lots. Thereafter the lots became farmland; lush green fields and compounds to the left of the road sloping down to the river. Dusty, drier residential lots lay to their right. The poppies were long gone, replaced by new growth of maize, cotton, peanuts, cucumbers, squash and watermelon. Too many fields stood fallow.

They eventually came upon a cluster of madrasah compounds nestled amongst residential ones. At a distance they were indistinguishable from the others; up close, however, there was a noticeable absence of farm implements but an abundance of young hard-looking men.

A quick enquiry and they were directed to the appropriate walled compound where they were enthusiastically greeted, ushered to a cluster of carpets under a large awning stretching between two buildings and served chai.

“I’m pleased to see you again Norowz. And you Tofan,” said his host.

“And we you Mullah Akthar,” replied Norowz. “We weren’t expecting you here. I was simply told that I was to come here to speak to a leader. We thought it would be Koo Agha or one of the other local ones.”

Mullah Akthar Mohammad Osmani was a close associate of Mullah Omar the spiritual leader of the Taliban. He had been a foreign minister of the former Taliban government and was an arch conservative even by their standards. The destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas was his handiwork. As the former commander the Taliban army’s Kandahar Corps at the time of the American invasion he had been Norowz’s commanding officer. At present he was the Quetta Shura Taliban’s treasurer and chief of military operations for the South and an arch rival of Dadullah’s; the two men barely tolerated each other. Norowz walked a tight line between the two but if pushed to making a choice he would favor the steadier Osmani over the volatile Dadullah any and every day.

“I’ve come for a field visit to see how the situation is developing but I am finished here and will be moving on tonight.

“You’re on your way back to Panjwaii tonight as well, Norowz?” he asked.

“Yes. Tofan has successfully stopped our movement here and has managed to turn it around. In two days we should all be back home.”

“That wasn’t our best idea to send you here, was it?” said Osmani.

“There was and still is a need,” he continued. “The puppets stirred up the local warlords here when they tried to destroy the poppy crop this year. That worked well for us and we suddenly had an army here where we had none before. Our local core was able to hire up a large number of the youths here and they’ve been very active carrying out numerous attacks against the British. Effectively they have them bottled up in small bases around the province and they are unable or unwilling to maneuver against us.

“We’ve had losses though. The first week of this month we’ve had over eighty dead and many more wounded. The elders here are starting to push back and are recalling their young men. That’s being partially compensated for by the fighters that Dadullah has been bringing in from Pakistan and the north. They’re arriving but not quickly. Bringing your people here, however, with hindsight, was a mistake.”

“Because of Pashmul,” said Norowz.

“Because of Pashmul,” said Osmani with a nod. “The good news is that our losses will probably not be as extreme as we had at first feared. The enemy has pulled back north of the highway and we are already having stragglers coming back in. In another two days we should know much better how this setback has affected our plans for next month.”

“Do we have any idea where they are heading next?”

“Not really,” Osmani said. “There have been reports that the British reconnaissance troops that were at Pashmul with the Canadians are going to move west to Helmand. We’ve got scouts out all around them and should know immediately where they’re headed once they start to move. Dadullah is of the view they will go back to Kandahar to replenish but some of us think that they are heading here. There have been signs of Americans along the Helmand between here and the dam upstream. In addition the British in town here haven’t had any resupply for some time. We think they are running short of all supplies and that they can’t let that go on for much longer. Finally we’ve been observing more than the usual drone and aircraft activity here. I’d say it’s just as likely, if not more so, that they are coming here as going back to Kandahar.”

“If that’s the case shouldn’t we stay here?”

“No. I think you’ll be needed back in Panjwaii. Our best plan here is to let them hit empty air. The Americans and Canadians can’t stay. They have their own areas to deal with and just as soon as they are gone the British will still be in their little forts and weak again.

“You need to get back, Norowz. You will need every one of your people and every minute that’s available between now and the 19th of next month. Your fight is going to be in Panjwaii and Kandahar, not here.”