The Long War Journal: ISAF repels attacks in Helmand, launches strike into Pakistan

Written by Bill Roggio on October 12, 2008 7:57 AM to The Long War Journal

Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/10/isaf_repels_attacks.php

Click to view map of attacks in Afghanistan by province, 2007 versus 2008. The numbers are thru August 2008.

US, British, and Afghan forces defeated two Taliban attacks in eastern and southern Afghanistan on Sunday. Seventy Taliban were killed during the two engagements. Five were killed as they attempted to attack from inside Pakistan.

In eastern Afghanistan, US forces launched two separate artillery strikes into Pakistan after Taliban mortar teams attempted to hit a US outpost inside Afghanistan. The outpost is located in the border district of Barmal in Paktika province, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) told The Long War Journal. The strikes were launched across the border into North Waziristan.

ISAF said the strikes were coordinated with the Pakistani military. US forces launched the first artillery strike after three Taliban were seen setting up a mortar tube. Pakistani forces confirmed two Taliban were killed. An hour later, a Taliban mortar team was seen setting up to hit a Pakistan Border Point. US forces launched a second volley "in defense of the Pakistani military." Three Taliban were confirmed killed by Pakistani forces.

The artillery strikes occurred the same day as a US Predator strike was launched against a Taliban and al Qaeda safe house outside of Miramshah in North Waziristan. Four Taliban were reported killed.

The Haqqani family and Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar run a parallel administration in North Waziristan, and have launched multiple cross-border strikes in Paktia, Paktika, and Khost provinces this year. Taliban and allied al Qaeda forces have attempted to over US and Afghan outposts and district centers in eastern Afghanistan this year.

In southern Afghanistan, US and Afghan forces killed more than 65 Taliban fighters after they attempted to attack an Afghan National Security Forces outpost in Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. The Taliban were seen gathering outside the town and were preparing a mortar attack when British and Afghan forces launched a counterattack. An airstrike resulted in most of the casualties, ISAF said in a press release. Mullah Qudratullah, the commander of the Taliban force, was killed in the attack, the provincial governor's spokesman told Reuters.

The attack in Helmand comes as the British are pushing for peace talks with the Taliban and news has broken that a senior Pakistani military officer was killed during a raid in Helmand province more than a year ago. British intelligence believes the Taliban have split from al Qaeda, and the time is right to cut a deal. Talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government were pushed by the British. But the so-called Taliban representatives have no standing with the group. Several members have been expelled from the organization.

US intelligence told The Long War Journal that there is no evidence of a Taliban-al Qaeda split, and in fact believes that the Taliban and Mullah Omar's ties to al Qaeda are stronger than ever. US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the US would be willing to negotiate with the Taliban, but only with “reconcilable” elements – those without links to al Qaeda. Mullah Omar and other senior Taliban leaders are not considered among the reconcilable elements of the Taliban.

Afghan officials accuse the Brits of covering up a report of the death of a Pakistani military officer who was advising Taliban forces in the Sangin district in Helmand province. "When the British soldiers entered the compound they discovered a Pakistani military ID on the body," The London Times reported. The Brits covered up the incident "because they care more about their relations with Islamabad than Kabul," an Afghan official told the paper.

At the time, the British were in the process of secret negotiations with the Taliban and had set up "training camps" for Taliban fighters. British diplomats claimed "the camp was just a place for them to be reintegrated, learn about hygiene and things." The cover-up and subsequent secret negotiations infuriated the Afghan government, and two British diplomats were later expelled after they were found to be conducting secret negotiations with the Taliban.