Interesting London Times article:
'Inadequate' US troops pulled
out of battleground
From Catherine Philp in Leg Diwawl, Afghanistan
HUNDREDS of American troops were pulled out of the
ground battle with al-Qaeda forces because they failed
to adapt to the guerrilla tactics required for fighting in the
mountains, according to their Afghan allies.
More than 1,000 Afghan troops rushed to the front line
yesterday to take up the slack after the withdrawal of
400 US troops from the mountains of eastern
Afghanistan.
The American military has described the withdrawal as
a tactical reappraisal of their battleplan, but Afghan
commanders told a different story of inexperienced
American soldiers unable to advance through the
unfamiliar mountains to track down al-Qaeda and
Taleban foes.
“They were not trained for the kind of fighting we do in
the mountains and, in these conditions, their kind of
fighting is useless,” Commander Allah Mohammed
said. “They were weakening our morale, it was better for
them to go.”
As dawn broke, hundreds of Afghan fighters mounted
their creaking Soviet-era tanks and set off towards the
snow-covered ridge of Shahi-Kot, where the remaining
al-Qaeda forces are hiding. Belching black smoke, the
tanks chugged their way to a mud-walled fort, where
troops were assembling around their leader, the Tajik
commander, Gul Haider.
The last time that these forces met the Taleban was on
the northern Shomali Plain, from where they swept into
Kabul as the Taleban fled south. It is hoped their
familiarity with the Taleban’s tactics will help them to
succeed where American troops failed.
Shah Mahood Popal, their deputy commander, believed
it was self-preservation that stopped the Americans
from launching a more decisive attack. “They didn’t want
to risk losing lots of fighters. Afghans don’t care if they
lose lots of fighters, so we are better suited for the task.
They should stick to bombing,” he said.
As he finished, the dark shape of a warplane swept the
blue sky above and a loud boom ricochetted off the
mountains. Three puffs of black smoke rose up from
the snowy ridge. “They are still trying to wipe out the
al-Qaeda from the air,” Habib Afghan, a commander
said, “but if forces don’t go in, it is impossible to finish
them off.”
The new troops were dispatched from Kabul last week
after it became clear that the Americans had
underestimated the number of militants still left hiding
up in the mountains. Afghan commanders believe that
the US has exaggerated the number of casualties in the
bombing campaign, saying that at least several
hundred al-Qaeda forces are up in mountain caves
ready to fight back.
“We have been very close to their positions and we have
seen no dead bodies,” Commander Mohammed said.
Afghan leaders say the many pathways through the
mountains are providing not only escape routes for the
fighters but a means of replenishing their ranks.
Shahi-Kot has been called the last bastion of al-Qaeda
in Afghanistan, but there is evidence that other pockets
of resistance still exist in provinces to the south.
Commanders say that before Operation Anaconda
began, there had been only a small number of
al-Qaeda in the mountains.
They were attempting to negotiate a surrender when the
offensive began, bringing al-Qaeda forces from all over
the south running to Shahi Kot to help in the battle. “We
were communicating with them, but the Americans
would not allow us to negotiate,” Commander
Mohammed said. “This paved the way for the other
Arabs to join them.”
The Arabs are thought to have made their way here from
a number of locations in southern Pakistan and
Afghanistan, in particular, a secret Taleban base in
Zabul Province, north of Kandahar.
Former Taleban sources predict that the base could be
the scene of the next operation against al-Qaeda. “This
battle will not be the last,” one former official said. “The
network is far from dead.”
Nineteen countries contributing troops to the
International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Kabul
are expected today to agree to stay in Afghanistan for
the full six months of the peacekeeping mandate
(Michael Evans writes). Britain, which had initially
limited its involvement in Isaf to three months, has
already said it will stay for the full term. The 1st Battalion
The Royal Anglian Regiment is in training to replace the
2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment at the end of
next month. |
