British Troops Deliver 200-Tonne Turbine to Afghan Dam – Spanish Report

Text of report by Spanish newspaper La Razon website, on 3 September

Karachi: While discontent among Afghans increases over the rise in the number of civilian victims and the division deepens between the Kabul government and coalition forces, British troops in Afghanistan have completed one of the largest logistical operations in the past seven years, delivering a 200-tonne turbine to the hydroelectric plant in Kajaki [in Helmand Province], an area dominated by the Taleban.

The huge turbine – which, when it becomes operational, will supply electricity to southern Afghanistan – was transported by a convoy of 100 vehicles, which advanced slowly through Taleban territory for five days to reach the Kajaki dam.

Moreover, the British forces had to negotiate the convoy’s passage with the leaders of the localities through which it passed and paid 25,000 dollars’ compensation for the inconvenience caused to the population [unspecified].

The military convoy, escorted by helicopters and armoured vehicles, followed a 160-kilometre winding route where the soldiers were attacked by Taleban insurgents. Some 250 Taleban died in the offensive and there was only one casualty among the British soldiers.

It is the largest operation of this kind carried out by British forces since the Second World War, explained the engineers who drew up the route, via dried-up rivers and mountain passes.

“It was a great achievement,” said Lt-Col Dave Wilson, commander- in-chief of the 23 Engineer Regiment. “It was carried out through some of the most heavily-mined areas in Afghanistan.” By means of this complex and successful operation, the coalition forces – made up of 75,000 soldiers under the NATO mandate – have chalked up a point in the fight against the Taleban, because this is the highest number of insurgent casualties in recent times and the largest cooperation project in Afghanistan.

The installation of this Chinese turbine is part of a project funded by the US development agency (USAID) to increase production at the Kajaki electricity plant, built in 1975, to three turbines with a power of 51 megawatts. Some 1.8 million Afghans will benefit from the project.

Originally published by La Razon website, Madrid, in Spanish 3 Sep 08.

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