 Lt.-Col. Jerry Walsh (left) goes over the Operation HYDRA plan with Lt.-Col. Sakhi Mohammad Barriz, Commanding Officer of the Afghan National Army. (SUN MEDIA)
|
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD – Just two weeks ago, the Taliban controlled two villages in the volatile North Panjwaji District of Kandahar Province.
Canadian soldiers, led by Lt.-Col. Jerry Walsh of 1 Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Edmonton, swept into the area southwest of Kandahar City alongside the Afghan National Army (ANA) on Nov. 15. A meeting with villagers was held right there on the battlefield.
The Taliban had fled.
“The ANA commander essentially presented his plea, that they reject the Taliban and that they see that this is an area of the country that's been devastated by war. It's their responsibility to step up and there's a future for their children,” says Walsh, commanding officer for Task Force 3-09 Battle Group.
“That's a recognition that the future of Afghanistan is dependent upon the Afghans being able to secure these areas themselves. That is the objective in everything we do.”
Both villages secured during Operation Hydra, one of the largest operations that Canadians have launched since joining the war, are along key approaches to Kandahar City.
“These are in our area, traditionally where the insurgents have set up command and control nodes, logistics nodes, staging areas to support their endeavor to control Kandahar City,” said Walsh, whose battle group took over from the Van Doos about two months ago.
“Those are the areas that need to be controlled, to deny them that freedom of movement, to deny them that sanctuary, to deny them those staging bases. What we've done is continue to expand the area of the ‘hold’, to push the insurgents away from Kandahar City so that that the government of Afghanistan could exercise its authority and its power.”
Kandahar City has a population of about 700,000, but only 2,000 to 4,000 people live in key villages in the area, said Walsh. When Hamid Karzai was elected president for a second five-year term in November, only a handful people from the villages secured by Hydra had voted.
Most locals don't yet understand the government structure, what a federal or provincial or district leader can do for them.
“That's what's being introduced now, a coherent plan and it has to be very tangible. That’s always a challenge in Afghanistan,” says Walsh.
So, “just as the councillor for Edmonton North goes to the mayor or the provincial government needing some provincial money or some municipal money, that's the same type of thing that has to be explained and delivered to (the Afghan villagers) to have any faith in that type of a system, and it takes time,” Walsh said.
“All this has to be within a security bubble provided by the Afghans themselves.”
The ANA, through its actions, is succeeding at winning over the confidence of the people.
“They haven't seen that (security) before, which is why they relied on and accepted the Taliban to come in and say, 'We will protect the village, nobody will steal your sheep and nobody will take your sons away. Nobody else is providing you the security, there's nobody else here, nobody cares about your future,’” says Walsh.
“Now there's an alternative.”
