Helmand Province

Helmand (Pashto: هلمند) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the south-west of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation.

The population is 745,000 and the surface area is 58,584 square kilometres. The population is largely Pashtun, with Baloch Brahui and Tajik^[1] minorities who are primarily resident in laskargah .

Helmand is the world's largest opium-producing region, responsible for 42% of the world's supply.[3] This is more than the whole of Myanmar, which is the second largest producing nation after Afghanistan.

The current governor is Gulab Mangal (since March 2008).

USAID programmes

Helmand was the center of a U.S. development program in the 1960s - it was even nicknamed "little America". The program laid out tree-lined streets in Lashkar Gah, built a network of irrigation canals and constructed a large hydroelectric dam. The program was abandoned when the communists seized power in 1978.

More recently the American USAID program has contributed to a counter-narcotics initiative called the Alternative Livelihoods Program (ALP) in the province. It pays communities to work to improve their environment and economic infrastructure as an alternative to Opium poppy farming. The project undertakes drainage and canal rehabilitation projects. In 2005 and 2006 there have been problems in getting promised finance to communities and this is a source of considerable tension between the farmers and the Coalition forces.

] Current military situation

A view of Sangin Valley in Helmand province - 2007.

It was announced on January 27, 2006 in the British Parliament that a NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would be replacing the US troops in the province as part of Operation Herrick. The British 16th Air Assault Brigade would be the core of the force in Helmand Province. British bases are located in the towns of Sangin, Lashkar Gah and Gerishk.

As of Summer 2006, Helmand was one of the districts involved in Operation Mountain Thrust, a combined NATO-Afghan mission targeted at Taliban fighters in the south of the country. In July 2006, this offensive mission essentially stalled in Helmand as NATO, primarily British, and Afghan troops were forced to take increasingly defensive positions under heavy insurgent pressure. In response, British troop levels in the province were increased, and new encampments were established in Sangin and Gerishk. Fighting has been particularly heavy in the towns of Sangin, Naway, Nawsad and Garmser. There are reports that the Taliban see Helmand province as a key testing area for their ability to take and hold Afghan territory from NATO and Afghan National Army troops ^[2]. Commanders on the ground have described the situation as the most brutal conflict the British army has been involved in since the Korean war.

In Autumn 2006, British troops started to reach "cessation of hostilities" agreements with local Taliban forces around the district centres where they had been stationed earlier in the summer ^[3]. Under the terms of the agreement, both sets of forces will withdraw from the conflict zone. This agreement from the British forces implies that the strategy of holding key bases in the district, as requested by Hamid Karzai, is essentially untenable with the current levels of British troop deployment. The agreement is also a setback for Taliban fighters, who were desperate to consolidate their gains in the province, but are under heavy pressure from various NATO offensives.

News reports identified the insurgents involved in the fighting as a mix of Taliban fighters and warring tribal groups, primarily the Ishakzai and Alikozai, who are heavily involved in the province's lucrative opium trade ^[4].

Fighting continued throughout the winter, with British and allied troops taking a more pro-active stance against the Taliban. Several operations were launched including the more recent Operation Silicone at the start of spring. On May 12, 2007, Mullah Dadullah, one of the Taliban's top commanders, along with 11 of his men were killed by NATO and Afghan forces in Helmand.

On May 8, 2007, between 21 and 40 civilians were killed by U.S. air strikes in Heratyan village, Sangin District.^[5]

] Border with Pakistan

Helmand has a southern border with the Balochistan province of Pakistan. Many domestic and international observers have criticized Pakistan's efforts towards securing the border against Taliban insurgents, who are reported to use Balochistan as a training and staging area.^{[citation needed]} Some reports cite the political alliance of Pakistan's military government with Balochistan's pro-Taliban Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam party as the reason for Pakistan's reluctance to commit to greater security measures.^{[citation needed]}

Cities

·        Lashkar Gah

·        Sangin

Districts

Districts of Helmand.

·        Baghran

·        Dishu

·        Garmsir

·        Gerishk

·        Kajaki

·        Khanashin

·        Lashkargah (district)

·        Musa Qala

·        Nad Ali

·        Nawa-I-Barakzayi

·        Nawzad

·        Sangin

·        Washir

Herat Province

Herat (Persian: هرات) is one the 34 Provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of the country. Its primary city and administrative capital is also named Herat.

Overview

The province was one of the first major battlegrounds in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and remained an active area of guerrilla warfare throughout, with local military commander and mujahideen Ismail Khan leading resistance to Soviet rule from 1979 until the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 (see the article on the city of Herat for further details). When the Soviets withdrew, Ismail Khan became the governor of the province, a position he remained until the Taliban took control of the province in 1995. Following the ousting of the Taliban in 2001 by the US and coalition forces as well as the Afghan Northern Alliance, Khan once again became governor of Herat. (See U.S. invasion of Afghanistan).

The province was ruled more or less autocratically by Khan, despite some attempts by the interim central government (headed by Hamid Karzai) to weaken the power of local strongmen. Khan's rule has engendered some controversy, though Herat has remained largely free of the violence that has plagued some other regions of post-Taliban Afghanistan.

In March 2003, the Endowment and Islamic Affairs Department of the provincial government began steps to restrict what it saw as un-Islamic vices, on March 1, 2003 banning the sale and public screening of movies and the performance of music in public, and on March 5, 2003 banning the viewing of movies entirely, as well as the possession and sale of satellite dishes.

Map of Herat Province

Radio Free Afghanistan (an extension of the United States' Radio Free Europe program) reported negatively on these steps, noting that the restrictions were very similar to those that had been in place under the Taliban, and portraying them as a step backwards for the province. Khan reacted angrily to these reports, as well as some citing human rights violations in the province, branding the Radio Free Afghanistan reporters (who were Afghanis) "traitors". On March 19, 2003, Ahmad Behzad, one of Radio Free Afghanistan's reporters for the story, was allegedly beaten and detained on Khan's orders. On March 21 Khan issued a threatening statement, saying "those Afghans from our city, through BBC and Radio Azadi, harm the dignity of our people... I would like to tell them that just like those who served the Russians and benefited from them, they too will meet the same end."

The Friday Mosque in the city of Herat.

A verbal war of words followed, with local journalists protesting angrily at what they read as a threat to use violence against dissenting journalists. President Karzai issued several statements largely siding with the journalists and expressing concern at the situation. This culminated in Khan ordering Behzad to leave the province permanently, despite his being a native of the city of Herat. Journalists responded with a cessation of news reporting in protest, beginning on March 24 (joined by the US's Radio Free Afghanistan, the UK's BBC service, Iran's Dari service, and a number of publishers of local newspapers and weekly news magazines). On March 28, Behzad met with President Karzai, who again expressed his support for the journalists and concern that the situation was affecting reconstruction in Herat and damaging the transitional government.

Khan backed down, claiming to have always supported journalistic freedom, and chalking the entire incident up to a misunderstanding. He released a statement saying, "the recent event that occurred was the result of a misunderstanding, and I hope it will not happen again. We are not against any Afghan or foreign journalist, and the reporters can be assured of their safety in our town, and can report on life in this country any way they wish." Behzad returned to Herat on April 3, 2003, and the local media resumed publishing.

The current governor of the province (as of January 2007) is Sayed Hussain Anwari, a former Minister of Agriculture and governor of Kabul Province.

] Districts

Districts of Herat.

• Adraskan District
• Chishti sharif District
• Farsi District
• Ghoryan District
• Gulran District
• Guzara District
• Injil District
• Karukh District
• Kohsan District
• Kushk District
• Kushki Kuhna District
• Obe District
• Pashtun Zarghun (formerly Foshanj) District
• Shindand (formerly Sabzwar) District
• Zinda Jan District

• Herat (city)