Because it’s that time of year, Sangin, in Helmand province, is back in the news.
[quote_box_center]At least 160 Taliban insurgents have been killed and 100 others wounded so far during the military operations in Sangin district of southern Helmand, the Police Chief Col. Bacha Gul Bakhtiar said, talking of significant achievements over the past nine days.
Several villages have been cleared of Taliban since the start of the operations on Feb. 15, Bakhtiar said, adding that two police have been killed and 16 others wounded.
“Recently several Taliban insurgents gathered in a village in Sangin to make plans against the security forces, but we identified them and attacked them, in which 11 insurgents were killed and the others fled the area,” he noted.
Showing their support for the security forces, Helmand representatives in Parliament emphasized on increased air strikes on insurgent shelters.
[/quote_box_center]That last part is a tough one, since the Afghan Air Force is in no way capable of conducting airstrikes. Not even partnered airstrikes. They just can’t do it. Which makes this next bit a little iffy in the truthiness department.
[quote_box_center]This has been the first independent anti-insurgent operation conducted by the security forces without any support of the foreign forces.[/quote_box_center]I want to believe this, I really do. The thought of Afghan forces conducting a successful operation without any foreign support at all thrills my American heart. And it’s possible that it happened. But given Carter’s questions about Afghan security forces? The occasional operation is possible, but it’s not likely that they can manage to run a long-term campaign completely on their own.
Related: this underscores again the fact that Afghan cops aren’t doing much police work. They’re a paramilitary, and that bodes ill for the future of governance. In Sangin, or anywhere else in the country.