A 'different' war in Afghanistan

By Alastair Leithead
BBC News, Maiwand, Afghanistan

Soldiers from the 3 Para Battlegroup are back in Kandahar province

The summer of 2006 was a violent time in Helmand province.

Now, just 18 months after they went through some of the most intense fighting in decades, the Parachute Regiment is back in southern Afghanistan.

The 16 Air Assault Brigade has taken over Nato command in Helmand from 52 Brigade and they arrived to a different war - still dangerous but in a different way.

Then they fought for their lives, surrounded in small town centres and attacked day and night by a determined Taleban force more numerous and well armed than commanders expected.

The British forces were never supposed to be so spread out and so isolated - the few helicopters struggled to keep the outposts resupplied.

Now they have returned with four times the manpower, extra resources and are now very much on the offensive.

Fighting back

In the time since the Paras left, British troops have pushed the Taleban back, killing key commanders and taking ground.

My family thought I was an idiot for coming in the first place and knew I would have to come back but they didn't think it would be so soon Corporal Gaz McMahon Back on the frontline

They have built bases in the lush Helmand river valley where the insurgents used to fight from the high, mud-walled compounds and the deep irrigation ditches.

The Afghan National Army is more of a force to be reckoned with, even if the police still lag far behind, and militarily there has been progress.

The question is whether the impact of tens of thousands of Nato and Afghan troops is winning the people over and offering them the security and justice the Taleban has provided for them in the past.

Also, whether the military mission is improving life for the people of southern Afghanistan, or just ruining it with fighting and bombing.

It is also a different war. British forces are now less likely to see their enemies or engage in hand-to-hand fighting, but to be hit by roadside bombs as they move from district to district, or by a suicide bomber while out on patrol.

Commanders say this is a sign of progress - a move away from more audacious attacks - but it is bad for morale as soldiers prefer to see who they are up against.

There will be fighting but the Taleban has changed tactics, knowing the political impact back home of losing soldiers to bomb blasts and booby traps.

In Maiwand district in Kandahar province the first operation of the new deployment began.

For the past two weeks 3 Para Battlegroup have been moving into areas where the international forces have not had a significant presence, but so far they have not fired a shot.

This may have something to do with the opium poppy crop as the fields are ablaze with flowers - signalling the beginning of the labour-intensive harvest which keeps many of the Taleban foot soldiers occupied.

They are building a base for the Afghan security forces to bring security to Highway 1, the main ring road around Afghanistan which runs through the few shops and buildings in the centre of Hutal, Maiwand's district capital.

They are using the relative calm to build relationships with local leaders and work on winning people over.

But the name of Maiwand is well known by the Afghans and the military alike.

It was here in 1880 that more than 1,600 British soldiers were routed during the Second Anglo-Afghan War in one of the worst colonial defeats by an eastern army.

The fort occupied by those forces is again a fortress for British troops - the Taleban propaganda reminds people the British were driven out once before and will be again.

They forget to mention that same Afghan army was then defeated by British reinforcements a few months later.

The 3 Para commander is quick to point out they already tried - and failed - in the summer of 2006.