Gereshk Shura Brings Leaders to Afghans

Shura spreads governance to rural Gereshk villages
by Lance Cpl. Jeremy Fasci RC-SW

GERESHK DISTRICT, Afghanistan – Afghan government officials visited the isolated villages on the outskirts of Gereshk District during Operation Omid Shash, Feb. 17.

Brig. Gen. Sherin Shah, the commanding officer of 3rd Brigade, 215th Corps, Ezmerai, the district police chief, and Mhaduddin Khan, the district governor, attended the shura – a visible sign of the ability of the Afghan military and civilian officials to operate in Gereshk’s outlying areas.

“Today was a culmination of about three days worth of work by the 6th Kandak of the 3rd Brigade where the troops have occupied a series of villages,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Ghika, the commanding officer of 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, which serves as the Brigade Advisory Group for the 3rd Brigade of the Afghan National Army’s 215th Corps.

“We called in all the elders and key decision makers from all the villages to a shura with their Afghan civilian leadership to show them their own leadership and also to prove that these villages are not in the sway of the Taliban.”

Visiting these small villages gives a face to the government that many of the people here are not usually able to see. Because the villagers in these rural areas are not able to visit the district center, it is important to show them they are not forgotten. The ability to talk to people who will be providing security and governance in the region is also important in the fight to push the Taliban out of the region.

“The goal was to bring their local civilian leadership to them in their own village,” said Ghika. “This has the double advantage of showing them that the Afghan security forces and Afghan civilian leadership can operate wherever they want in Helmand province and also for them to see their leadership and put their grievances directly to the district governor.”

The operation was designed to bring a stronger security presence in the area, which has not been focused on in the past. The increasing abilities of the Afghan National Army to provide this type of security allowed them to perform this task.

“This is an area that has been largely untouched by ISAF forces for a long time,” said Ghika. “When the combined force decided to conduct an operation here, we considered it appropriate that it should be Afghans so the Afghan people see their own army bringing their governance to them.”