Taleban Hamper Musa Qala Reconstruction Efforts
Insurgents were ousted from the town over a year ago, but they continue to pose a threat.
Monday, 9 February, 2009
Taleban Hamper Musa Qala Reconstruction Efforts
Insurgents were ousted from the town over a year ago, but they continue to pose a threat.
Monday, 9 February, 2009
“Both the [Afghan] government and the international community turned out to be liars,” he told IWPR. “They haven’t done anything here. People are suffering from hunger. They have no opportunity to earn money. The government promised to build a large mosque in the centre of the city, but there are no signs of it yet. They promised to build bridges in the Dezour area, but nothing has been done in that regard, either.”
The district governor also insists that the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, is not providing sufficient protection. On January 1 this year, his own house was attacked by Taleban insurgents. Mullah Salaam was not present at the time, and was not hurt, but a large number of his guards were killed.
“When my house and my soldiers were surrounded by the Taleban, ISAF did not send any troops to help,” he complained. “The foreigners have not taken any effective measures in term of security. My relations with the foreigners are good because we work together, but they do not protect me.”
Mullah Salaam has the same ambiguous attitude toward the central government.
“My relations with [Afghan president] Hamed Karzai are very good,” he said. “But the president himself cannot do anything. I have problems with Karzai's ministers. They do not listen to the president and they promise to do things but they never do.”
The district governor claims that any improvement in local conditions have been provided by himself.
Musa Qala is a district of northern Helmand province that has acquired iconic status over the past two years. A controversial agreement in October, 2006, saw the withdrawal of British forces from the area, predicated on a Taleban promise to stay out as well. Both sides were restricted from operating within a defined perimeter.
The deal did not hold for long. In February, 2007, the Taleban took the district centre, claiming that foreign troops had broken the agreement by launching air strikes within the exclusion zone. International forces insisted that the strikes, in which the brother of a senior Taleban commander was killed, were outside the mandated area.
The Taleban held Musa Qala for nearly a year, establishing their own severe brand of Sharia law. In December, 2007, British and Afghan troops took back the district, amid lavish promises of assistance.
Mullah Abdul Salaam, a former Taleban commander, was appointed district governor in January, 2008, in what was widely seen at the time as a step towards dialogue with the moderate Taleban.
Things have not worked out quite the way they were planned. The pledged support has reportedly been slow in coming, and the Taleban have proved to be remarkably resilient, hampering reconstruction efforts.
Residents say they are caught between the Taleban, the Afghan government and foreign forces.
“The government and the foreigners call us Taleban, while the Taleban accuse us of being spies for the government,” said a shopkeeper in Musa Qala, who did not give his name.
Many people have fled, heading for the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
“It is impossible to live in Musa Qala now,” said Anwar, a Musa Qala resident who moved to Lashkar Gah with his family six months ago. “There is fighting between the foreigners and the Taleban. People cannot walk on the street. I had to abandon my home. I left everything.”
Many of those who have stayed are unemployed, and getting desperate.
“At the beginning, the government hired us to clean out the ditches, and paid us 500 afghani (about 10 US dollars) per day,” said Gul Ahmad, a local resident. “But that has stopped. Now we have nothing.”
Hajji Mohammad Naem, who represents Musa Qala in the provincial council, said the public works project had to be abandoned because of security concerns, “We had to stop. The Taleban killed three of the labourers on charges of spying for the British forces and the Afghan government.”
Those engaged in Musa Qala’s reconstruction dispute claims that little has been done. Representatives of the central government and the international community point to new schools, clinics, local government buildings. But even they are forced to admit that the lack of security has meant that some projects have not been implemented.
“The expectations of the Musa Qala governor are very high,” said Abdul Satar Mirzakawal, the deputy governor of Helmand province. “He wants us to build parks and a modern town in Musa Qala. Security problems in the district have kept us from fulfilling some of our promises. But development works have been carried out there. A school and a health clinic have been built.”
A high-ranking authority from a development agency in Helmand also defended the international community’s record in Musa Qala. While the town had a long way to go, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, there had been progress. Completed projects, he said, included a 750-kilovolt generator, desks and furnishings for the school, and small community grants.
“The most important contribution the US government made was [to give] over one million dollars to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund specifically earmarked for Musa Qala district,” he said. “That funding was specifically to be used by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.”
But the MRRD has been slow to keep its promises, according to tribal leaders.
“[MRRD] … promised us lots of assistance, but only two schools have been built, and our children still study in tents. It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” said tribal elder Hajji Zahir.
James Donnelly, British government liaison officer in Musa Qala, was upbeat about progress that had been made.
“We have built the district headquarters, a school, a clinic, and three roads,” he said. “We have other projects in the works as well, including canals and two mosques.”
Too little, too late, complains the district governor.
“[The government and the international community] promised to build three big bridges, 18 schools and to rebuild the congregational mosque in the district,” said Mullah Salaam. “Out of those, they have built only two schools in the district.”
The high-ranking development official acknowledged that the number of schools built fell far short of what was promised, but insisted that it was security, not lack of commitment that had slowed reconstruction.
“We wanted to open more schools but the security situation did not allow it,” he said. “If we had better security we could do more work.”
But it is unclear to what extent the Taleban actually control Musa Qala. While residents complain that they cannot leave their homes, Mullah Salaam said that he has kept the insurgents ten kilometres outside the district, and that they are unable to create problems.
“There are Taleban who do whatever they want, and no one can stop them,” the governor told IWPR. “But since I came to Musa Qala, these problems have been resolved.”
The Taleban tell a different story.
“We are three to five km from the Musa Qala district centre,” said Taleban spokesman Qari Yusuf.
But he rejects accusations that the Taleban are preventing assistance from reaching residents of Musa Qala. All it takes is a little coordination with the Taleban, he insisted.
“If the government delivers the assistance to the residents in consultation with the local Taleban, then there is no problem.” he told IWPR. “If the Afghan government, supported by the entire world community, cannot do reconstruction works in the area, it really shows its weakness to the people.”
But while the various parties trade blame and claim credit, residents feel that development pledges have not been delivered.
“Promises made by the government and the international community have not been fulfilled in Musa Qala,” said provincial council head Anwar Khan. “Residents in Musa Qala have nothing. They do not have access to schools, health clinics etc. People are very disappointed in the government, they do not trust the government and they do not listen to it.”
Aziz Ahmnad Tassal and Mohammad Ilyas Dayee are IWPR journalists in Helmand Province.
