Taleban Raids Show New Battle Tactics

Officials in Helmand province say they had warning of a day-long rebel attack on the town of Lashkar Gah last week, leading some residents to ask why it was allowed to happen and to last so long.



Fighting with heavy and light weaponry echoed around the provincial capital on January 29, centred on the Hajji Azizullah market, about 200 metres north of the governor’s compound. By 6 pm, when it ended, the market lay in ruins, the seven attackers, who apparently posed as policemen, were all dead, and at least eight civilians were wounded.



The provincial head of counter-terrorism, Khan Almas, told reporters that the police had received information in the days before the attack that the Taleban would make a run on Lashkar Gah. He said they even knew the target – the market building, which was still under construction.



“There are seven suicide attackers inside,” he said while the fighting was in progress. “They have some very bad weapons with them, but we will not let them out.”



Police and troops poured into the town, setting up checkpoints and controlling road intersections. Security forces surrounded the market and NATO helicopters flew over, firing rockets down at the attackers.



The attackers inside the market fired rockets at the governor’s office and residence, the Bost Hotel.



Residents were shocked because nothing like this had happened since a Taleban raid on Lashkar Gah in October, 2008.



“I told my mother that we have to get out of town,” said Abdul Jabar, a young boy who had raced home from school. “The Taleban are attacking and things are very bad.”



The deputy governor of Helmand, Abdul Satar Mirzakwal, confirmed at a news conference that evening that the government had had warning of the attack.



“We knew three days ago that an armed group was planning an attack inside the town,” he said. “We even had information about the market building. We talked to the owner ….a few times, and told him to ensure security or to let us do it.”



Hajji Azizullah, the owner, was distressed at the damage to his property, and blamed the government.



“My building has suffered a lot of damage,” he said. “Why did the government not stop the attack earlier? They told me several times that the building might come under attack. I told them they should ensure security. This is a disaster.”



The amount of his loss is as yet unclear, but Hajji Azizullah said that the building’s coloured glass windows alone cost 30,000 US dollars.



The deputy governor said that they would create a commission and may reimburse Hajji Azizullah for some of the damage. However, he insisted that Azizullah was himself to blame for not handing the building over to the security forces.



The market owner rejects this. “I am a civilian,” he said. “I could not secure the market myself, and the government did not protect it. I would go to my market every day, and I would see some individuals wearing police uniforms. They would go into my market, smoke hashish and then leave. How was I supposed to know they were the opposition?”



An official from the national security directorate maintained that the market had been under surveillance because of the intelligence reports that it would be attacked.



“We had been informed that there would be an attack on this building,” he said. “We would go there and patrol every day, but the suicide attackers got there before us today.”



He insisted that the police action had been a success, and had thwarted an even bigger calamity.



“The Taleban had planned to stay there and attack at night,” he said. “They wanted to attack the Bost Hotel and other important locations. But due to our hard work we found them.”



Some residents of the provincial capital also asked why the government was not capable of stopping the attack, since it apparently had adequate warning. But most were relieved that the fighting ended without too many civilian or police casualties.



Mir Ahmad Dost, who sells bananas and oranges from a cart in the centre of the town, was not concerned until the fighting dragged on.



“Things were okay until noontime,” he said. “Nobody was too worried. But when it got towards evening people got upset. It should have ended earlier. There are thousands of local and foreign forces, and the foreigners have all kinds of equipment. Why could they not stop it in the morning?”



But security officials in Helmand say that since the attack was inside the town, they had to be cautious in order to protect lives and property.



“[The counter-attack] took a long time because there were civilian houses near the market,” said Helmand security chief Assadullah Sherzad. “We had to move slowly to avoid civilian casualties. But we knew we could finish the operation by night time so that our citizens could sleep safely.”



Once the attack was over, security forces squabbled about who had deserved credit for neutralising the insurgent operation.



“The police had the building surrounded, but then 200 special forces arrived at 3 pm,” said Colonel Shirin Shah, commander of the Third Brigade, Special Forces. “We started our operations late in the day. We killed two armed men and a suicide attacker.”



Eyewitnesses living close to the market say that the police fought valiantly, and that no other forces were present.



“I saw everything,” said one man who gave his name as Wadud. “The suicide attackers fought very seriously. They had heavy weapons. There were no national army or foreign forces with the police. They would try and enter the building but sometimes they were forced to retreat.”



Sherzad, the security chief, told a news conference that his police were heroes.



“I am happy that our nation’s enemies were unable to hurt civilians and my brave men stopped this attack,” he said. “I assure the citizens of Lashkar Gah that I will prevent any other attacks in the city.”



But a nurse in the emergency hospital in Lashkar Gah, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IWPR that they had received eight injured civilians during the day.



“One of the eight died,” the nurse said. “Five others were discharged after treatment. Two are still in the hospital.”



The government denies that any civilians were injured or killed.



The evening of the attack, reporters were allowed inside the market to view the aftermath of the attack. Spent shells were everywhere and most of the inside of what had been an attractive building was destroyed.



Three dead bodies inside the market were all wearing police uniforms. One of them still wore an unexploded suicide vest.



There is some disagreement about the number of attackers. The Taleban say there were six, the police report seven. Two had blown themselves up in the morning, and three were inside the market. It is not clear what happened to the others, but police said that all of the attackers were killed.



A reliable source from the national security directorate said that after the attack they found 31 rockets stored in the market. In addition, the security officials found grenades, AK47 assault rifles and heavy weapons.



“Since the market is under construction, the police were probably unable to notice all of this equipment,” he said.



A spokesman for the Taleban, Qari Yusuf Ahmadi, accepted responsibility for the attack just half an hour after it had started. He sent a message to the press claiming that six suicide attackers had killed 20 Afghan and foreign soldiers, and had surrounded the Bost Hotel and the United Nations office in the area.



These claims did not match reports from witnesses that the attackers never left the market area, and according to the governor’s office, no police or security forces were killed or injured. There are also no reports of foreign soldiers being involved in the attack other than in giving air support.



It was the second such attack by the Taleban this month. On January 18, seven insurgents struck in downtown Kabul, killing five police and one child, according to official tallies. The ensuing battle resulted in significant damage to the downtown area, including one shopping centre that was burned to the ground.



In a telephone interview, Qari Yusuf said that the Taleban had been forced to change their tactics because the number of foreign forces had increased.



“We are continuing our jihad against the infidels,” he said. “We have to choose a way that we think will succeed. Government officials lie. Our attack in Kabul killed dozens of government and foreign forces. We conducted a successful operation in Lashkar Gah and showed our power.”



The Taleban spokesman said that civilian casualties were a price to be paid for jihad.



“We have the right to drive the infidels out of the country in disgrace,” he said. “We will not pay damages to the owner of the hotel, but we will pray for him so that God will consider him a partner in our jihad.”



Mohammad Ilyas Dayee is an IWPR reporter in Helmand.