When Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani took office, it ushered in a period of hope for the country’s traumatized people that decades of violence would soon end.
But just one year later, a mood of crisis prevails: British troops are being sent to help the army maintain control of a strategically important district and many Afghans believe the Taliban are winning.
The announcement that British soldiers are being dispatched to Helmand Province came hours after a Taliban suicide bomber killed six US troops near a major military base in the deadliest single attack on American troops in the country since 2013, AP reported.
A British Ministry of Defense statement late Monday said “a small number of UK personnel” were being sent to Helmand in “an advisory role.” The UK has 450 troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO’s training mission.
Security has worsened across the country, as the Taliban test the mettle of Afghan security forces following the end of the international combat mission last year. While they do not typically hold any territory they win for more than a few hours or days, the Taliban have dealt a massive blow to the confidence of the over-stretched Afghan forces who are fighting the insurgency almost alone for the first time.
Officials have said casualties, as well as attrition and desertion, have taken a toll on numbers of government forces, while the Taliban strength seems never to diminish.
Fighting has raged between Taliban and Afghan forces in Helmand’s Sangin district, where an official said the district’s army base was the only area that had not fallen to the Taliban. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Omar Zwaq, the spokesman for Helmand governor, said government troops were able to deliver supplies to those holed up inside mid-afternoon Tuesday. But, he added, there was no letup in the fight for Sangin.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf said the siege continued “and the government will soon announce their defeat”.
Helmand is important to the Taliban. The lush southern province is home to endless poppy fields and the source of almost all the world’s opium, which helps fund the insurgency. The head of Helmand’s provincial council, Muhammad Kareem Atal, said about 65% of Helmand are now under Taliban control.
There are currently about 13,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, including 9,800 Americans, with a mandate to “train, assist and advise” their Afghan counterparts. That’s compared to 140,000 foreign troops at the peak of combat operations in 2011.
Officials see no traditional winter slowdown in the insurgents’ quest to overthrow the Kabul government, especially in the warmer southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar. They expect tough fighting in 2016 as what the Pentagon last week called an “invigorated Taliban” steps up its fight.
At the same time, Ghani’s government appears paralyzed by indecision and a lack of political intelligence that sees him use public appearances to deliver lectures but remains incapable of permanently filling vital security posts such as defense and intelligence, both of which are run by acting ministers.
This week, a senior official said he was unable to reach Ghani and resorted to Facebook to warn of the Taliban’s encroachment on Sangin.
“Hundreds of Afghan security forces have been killed fighting the Taliban across the province in the past six months,” Helmand’s Deputy Governor Mohammad Jan Rasulyar said.
Political analyst Haroun Mir said such incidents were an indication of “how remote the political elite have become from the reality on the ground,” obsessed with infighting and intrigue rather than fixing the country’s problems.
The cry for help from Rasulyar finally galvanized the government into action. Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah called the Helmand situation a “top priority” and commandoes and special forces were sent to save Sangin from an insurgent takeover.
It also appears to have prompted Britain’s Ministry of Defense to announce the deployment of its own troops to the region to help fight for Sangin, where Britain lost more than 100 of its 456 fatalities during its 13-year combat mission in Afghanistan.
It was not clear if US troops were involved in the effort to protect Sangin but a NATO official said there had been no US airstrikes on Sangin throughout December.
Now, people are starting to believe the Taliban are indeed stronger than the government.
With insurgents on the outskirts of Helmand’s capital Lashkar Gah and districts across the province either in Taliban hands or threatened with takeover, “it’s time for the president to recognize that he is not an academic anymore, he is a war president and he has to tell the people what he can do. And do something,” Mir said.
