BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — The sun had barely begun its climb over the mountains when the Afghan national army and coalition forces began their patrol to a small village nestled between two of the largest mountains in Zabul province. Parsang Village has been known as a "fence-sitting" village; a village that hasn't decided where to lay its loyalty.
"We visited Parsang three months ago," explains an ANA officer as he gives directions to his driver to fall in line in the convoy. "Three months ago, insurgent occupation inside the village was very apparent. The entire village was intimidated and afraid of the local insurgent fighters. They didn't want anything to do with us, for fear of retribution by the enemy fighters," the officer continued.
As the patrol drew closer to the village however, the ANA commander smiled. "I see this visit will not be like the last." As the convoy came to a slow halt, children of all ages ran up to the trucks, shaking hands with the ANA soldiers as they exited their vehicles and waving with excitement.
During the shura, the local elders confided in the ANA, explaining that security in the area has improved significantly due to several operations in the past two months. The elders stated the insurgents are very weak and no longer have a strong command and control over their village.
"Before, we were forced to provide food and shelter to the insurgents or suffer beatings, or even death," explained one elder. "Now, we rarely see more than two enemy fighters at a time and they never stay in our village for more than an hour," the elder continued.
"The insurgents feel they are being watched at all times and the ANA and coalition forces can fly down on them at any time," exclaimed another elder. "The enemy fighters are terrified of the helicopters and no longer believe our village is safe for them."
During the shura, the elders discussed ways they could provide security to their own villages. They discussed avenues to take in order to become more self-sufficient and not rely so heavily on the ANA to provide security for their own villages. Now that the insurgent's threat has been diminished, the villagers are more apt to provide security for themselves. The villagers' confidence in the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan increases as the insurgents' influence diminishes.
After the shura, ANA and coalition medics provided medical attention to 56 villagers. The ANA also distributed 60 bags of flour, 15 bags of rice, 30 bags of wheat, 10 radios and 20 bags of wheat seed.
The initiative to provide villagers with grain and wheat supplies to discourage planting and harvesting of illicit drugs. This initiative was discussed at an earlier shura and village elders seemed very skeptical that the ANA would deliver on its promise to provide such supplies. The ANA's ability to deliver these goods to the people of Parsang provides credibility to GIRoA's stated efforts to support the citizens of Afghanistan.
As the ANA officer shook hands with local elder, concluding the visit, he vowed to be back, to check on security and provide medical assistance to the people. The elder smiled and thanked him and his Soldiers. "You are welcome in my home, anytime," he said.
| Date Taken: |
11.10.2009 |
| Date Posted: |
11.10.2009 17:36 |
| Story ID: |
41383 |
| Location: |
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: |
355 |
| Downloads: |
344 |
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