Word: uruzgan
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...Local residents confirm that Taliban members were meeting in the house that night. Mullah Baz Mohammed, the Taliban-designated "governor" of Uruzgan, was also expected for dinner but failed to appear. "Some of the men in the house were Taliban," says district chief Malim Faiz Mohammed (no relation). "But people like the Daad family do not have the resources or backing to tell the Taliban to stay away. They have a problem from both sides: they are frightened of the ISAF and of the Taliban," who intimidate villagers into helping them and kill those who refuse...
...Australian and Dutch troops responsible for security in Uruzgan are using an "ink blot" counterinsurgency strategy, securing small areas and steadily expanding them. Outside the secure zones, they aim to disrupt the enemy with regular attacks and win people's trust with aid projects. The Taliban are reading from the same playbook, even installing governors and Sharia judges in areas they control. But while the ISAF operates under strict rules of engagement, the Taliban visit savage retribution on anyone they suspect of collaborating with the ISAF or Afghan government forces. Thousands of families face an impossible choice: cooperate with...
...Taliban were driven from power in Afghanistan by U.S.-led special forces and local irregulars. But in the past two years the Taliban have redoubled their efforts to get back their former power bases in southern provinces like Uruzgan. That has brought the ISAF into the area in force and increased the number of clashes - and casualties. In the past year, three Australians, nine Dutch troops and a U.S. soldier have been killed in Uruzgan. More than 100 Afghan civilians have died in the fighting, and some 1,600 families have fled their homes...
...Uruzgan is a longtime Taliban stronghold. "[Taliban leader] Mullah Omar grew up here," says former Dutch battlegroup commander Jelte Groen. "It was the first province to fall to the Taliban in 1994." With its rugged terrain, long history of opium growing, and network of smugglers' trails, Uruzgan "provides a safe haven for drug transport and moving troops," Groen adds. "So it is a very crucial area...
...Gizab, about 100 km northeast of Tarin Kowt, the Taliban have established Sharia law and made the town a way-station for opium smugglers. ISAF patrols have not ventured into the town for a couple of years. The number of Taliban fighters in Uruzgan is unknown - estimates range from 300 to 3,000 - but there is no doubting the effectiveness of their terror tactics. In November, on the vital highway between Tarin Kowt and Kandahar, capital of the adjacent province, five Afghan police manning Australian-built checkpoints were killed and their corpses strung up as a warning against collaboration with...