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| Afghanistan |
| UK troops take over Helmand despite Taliban threats |
| 2006-05-02 |
| The British commander who took formal control of Afghanistan's drug-dominated Helmand province yesterday insisted his men would "not be going out to look for trouble" despite Taliban threats to send them home in bodybags. Brigadier Ed Butler denied there were plans for pre-emptive strikes against insurgent strongholds when the main body of the planned 3300-strong garrison arrives next month. Tribal conflicts over water, land and historical issues posed a greater threat than either the Taliban or al Qaeda, he said. The UK force represents the first major stage of a rolling, country-wide handover of security by the US to Nato and will allow the Pentagon to withdraw more than 3000 troops as allied contingents replace them in the volatile south and east. Canadian soldiers in neighbouring Kandahar killed up to 20 insurgents and Afghan government soldiers in Uruzgan claimed a further four in a series of gunbattles and ambushes over the weekend. Two Canadian soldiers were slightly wounded and their vehicle destroyed by a roadside bomb east of Kandahar yesterday. A suicide bomber died without inflicting casualties when he drove his car into an Afghan army convoy in the Greiskh area of Helmand. Control of Helmand, which is almost half the size of Belgium, was transferred in a ceremony near Lashkar Gar, the provincial capital. The only visible change was the lowering of the US flag and the raising of the Union flag at Camp Bastion, the tented and fortified base which will be British headquarters for at least the next three years. Taliban leaders announced last week they planned to target British soldiers, regarded as "old enemies" who had lost two major wars against Pashtun tribesmen in the 1800s and would lose again. Brigadier Butler said the problems his troops would face were more fundamental than tackling insurgency if they were to fulfil their long-term commitment to security and reconstruction: "We are determined to make a difference to the lives of ordinary Afghans. We have a very clear mission in those respects and will not be going out to look for trouble." British forces have, until now, been confined to the area round Kabul, the capital, and to small reconstruction projects in the north. As reported by The Herald yesterday, local farmers have asked the Taliban to delay their expected spring campaign against the British until the poppy crop has been harvested in two to three weeks. Helmand produces 25-30% of the opium resin which is refined into the heroin sold on UK streets. Farmers can make 10 times as much growing poppies as they can from growing food crops such as wheat or maize. Five British soldiers have been wounded, two seriously, in the build-up to the handover. Three were slightly injured by a suicide bomber and two others drove over a landmine. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |