Afghan Daily Explains Importance of Retaking Musa Qala

Text of editorial, in Dari, “Sensitivities of the battle in Musa Qala”, published by independent Afghan newspaper Daily Afghanistan on 9 December

Afghan and NATO military officials said that Musa Qala District, which has been controlled by the Taleban for the past year, has been under siege. The joint Afghan and NATO forces have tightened the siege.

The Taleban have been asked to lay down their weapons and surrender to the government, but the Taleban refused and said they would resist the government and NATO forces. It is said that more than 2,000 armed Taleban and Al-Qa’idah fighters from various countries are in the region. It is also said that Musa Qala had become a main base for the terrorists inside Afghanistan and it is used for coordinating the Taleban in other parts of Afghanistan.

This district is very important to the Taleban and the Afghan and NATO forces. Using this district, the Taleban managed to capture some other parts of the country, in particular the south and proved their military and political prestige to Afghanistan and the world over the past one year.

It is very difficult and hard for that group to lose this position. They, with all their forces and possibilities, will try to not lose this region, and strongly resist the NATO and Afghan government forces.

The fight in Musa Qala District will face various difficulties and may take a long time. However, evidence shows that the Afghan government and NATO, at this stage, intend to recapture Musa Qala District from the Taleban at any price and ensure the government’s control on the district.

There has been national and international criticism of the deal reached by the British troops stationed there [with local elders] a year ago, which resulted in the collapse of Musa Qala District to the Taleban. A number of US officials have also criticized the Musa Qala accord and termed it an inappropriate step.

It is said that hundreds of US ground forces equipped with modern weapons including powerful helicopters joined the operation launched to recapture Musa Qala District. These forces including the Afghan National Army and the British troops will form a large number of troops participating in the war on Musa Qala District.

Perhaps the participation of the US forces is aimed at ending the war for the benefit of the Afghan and international forces as soon as possible. If this war takes a long time, there is a possibility of a decline in the fighting morale of the forces and use of method of deal once again, but the British troops said that the Americans will only open the gate to Musa Qala District for other troops, and the Afghan government and British forces will enter there in order to control it.

The handover of Musa Qala District to the Taleban did not only have harmful military and security consequences to Afghanistan, but also negative political consequences to the Afghan government and NATO, in particular the British forces. Moreover, the Taleban both took political advantage and got huge financial and economic incomes by increasing the poppy cultivation and trade in Helmand Province.

Therefore, the recapture of Musa Qala District has importance from many dimensions. The Afghan government and the NATO forces should rescue the district from the hands of the terrorists as soon as possible and launch other operations in the southern regions.

Originally published by Daily Afghanistan, Kabul, in Dari 9 Dec 07.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring South Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.