Musa Qala

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Musa Qala is a town and the district center of Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on 32.4433° N 64.7444° E at 1043 m altitude in the valley of Musa Qala River in the central western part of the district. It has a population of about 2,000.^[1] It is in a desolate^[2] and largely lawless^[3] area, populated by Pashtun tribes.^[4]

1 Taliban Resurgence
- 1.1 Truce with the Taliban
- 1.2 Recapture by the Taliban
2 Notes

[edit] Taliban Resurgence

Musa Qala is one of the epicenters of Taliban resistance to the US-Nato control in Afghanistan.^[4]

In February 2, 2006, intensive fighting erupted here leading to 28 deaths, including the Musa Qala district chief, Abdul Quddus.^[5]^[4] On March 3, 2006, the Sangin district governor, Amir Jan, was killed here while on vacation.^[4] British forces were deployed to defend the mud-walled district offices at Musa Qala (and also at Sangin, Nowzad and Kajaki). Over several months, eight British soldiers died here. All British casualties in Afghanistan occurred in this province. Danish troops moved in to Musa Qala after the British, but on 28 August 2006 the Danish military pulled all of its troops out of Musa Qala due to continued attacks.^[6]The British troops returned.

[edit] Truce with the Taliban

In late September 2006, a secret truce was allegedly made with the Taliban under which British troops would quietly move out of Musa Qala in return for the Taliban not attacking the region. The truce had the sanction of Mohammad Daud, the governor of Helmand province, and most tribal elders, who felt they could now exercise control over the Taleban themselves. It was also seen as a move to help integrate the Pashtuns on the side of the US-allied government. Others however, saw the move as a cop-out; Lieutenant-General David Richards, the NATO commander in Afghanistan said at the time that this move turned these four centers into “magnets” for the Taliban.^[7]

Initially, the local leaders were happy over the settlement, which gave them the upper hand over the Taliban. In the long run, however, attempts to win over the population appears to have failed, especially under the NATO strategy of air bombing which killed more than 4,600 Afghan noncombatants from 2001 to 2006, according to a study by University of New Hampshire economist Marc W. Herold.^[8] The result has been the steady growth of anti-American sentiment in the region, focused on the US-backed regime of President Hamid Karzai. Karzai himself deplored the attacks, apparently breaking down in tears, saying that "The cruelty is too much. [The coalition forces] are killing our children."^[8]

[edit] Recapture by the Taliban

On February 1, 2007, about a hundred (possibly two hundred) Taliban forces under Mullah Ghafoor captured the town, overran the district center and raised their trademark white flag. All tribal leaders who had arranged the truce with the British forces were jailed.^[9]. Some sources report the Taliban force numbered "several hundred".^[10]

The situation created a crisis for the US-NATO forces in Afghanistan, on the very day that the British commanding officer General David Richards was handing over charge of the NATO team to an American, General Dan McNeill. MacNeil suggested that "surgical and deliberate" force would be used to evict the fighters from Musa Qala. On February 4, US forces claimed that an airstrike near Musa Qala had killed a senior Taliban leader, possibly Mullah Abdul Ghafour, while travelling in a truck.^[11]

McNeill, the new NATO commander, feels that "come spring, an ISAF offensive not a Taliban offensive will set the conditions to defeat the insurgents again."^[12]

Eurasianet reports: "The attack laid waste to an agreement there, brokered last fall by Richards and local tribal elders, under which NATO troops agreed to withdraw from the town in return for a commitment by local Afghan leaders to oppose the Taliban."^[10]

Eurasianet reports that Richards, the outgoing NATO commander, is an expert at negotiation.^[10] Eurasianet reports that McNeill, the new NATO commander, opposes the kind of local agreements that Richards favored, and speculated that the aerial bombardment that was reported to have killed Mullah Abdul Ghafour was a sign of McNeill's more aggressive, less conciliatory approach.

"Officials in several European countries have quietly expressed concern about placing an American general in charge of the NATO force. Richards tried to create a less harsh, more economic-development-oriented identity for NATO in Afghanistan, as compared to the ‘‘kicking-down-doors’’ image that US forces have. Many local analysts expect NATO forces to embrace a more aggressive stance under McNeill, who is believed to oppose the type of local peace arrangements that Richards promoted. The danger at this point is that an overly aggressive NATO force in Afghanistan could alienate Afghans, and thus cause the Taliban’s support base to grow."