Coalition forces in southern Afghanistan provided $1.4 million in compensation in the last four months to Afghan civilians whose properties were rigged with explosives by Taliban militants and later demolished by Afghan and coalition security forces.
The coalition has tried to avoid such demolitions, choosing to defuse explosive devices and save buildings from destruction when feasible. But in some cases, officials say, the risk to security forces’ lives is too great to justify trying to save structures that have often been abandoned for months or years.
Most of the demolitions occurred in three districts in Taliban strongholds in Kandahar province, where a major Afghan and International Security Assistance Force offensive, dubbed Operation Dragon Strike, began in September.
Hundreds of families, and in some cases entire villages, abandoned the area under pressure from insurgents before the offensive kicked off. Taliban militants took over hundreds of deserted homes and other structures, turning some into homemade bomb factories, fighting positions or weapons stores.
One major challenge facing both security forces trying to clear the area and civilians eager to return home “is that insurgents are rigging many of the structures and fields, particularly in Arghandab, Zhari and Panjwai, with [improvised explosive devices] and homemade explosives,” said Maj. Gen. James L. Terry, who commands ISAF troops in Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan and Daykundi provinces.
Taliban bombs hidden in buildings, ditches, walls and other structures in the region killed at least 97 Afghan civilians since September and injured another 167. Similar devices also killed and injured dozens of coalition and Afghan troops, many during operations to clear insurgent bombs.
“When possible, we use our explosive ordnance teams to render safe the IEDs,” Terry said, “but when they are more complex and dangerous, we use precision munitions to reduce them.”
Gen. David Petraeus, commander of ISAF troops in Afghanistan, has supported the demolitions, saying it would be foolhardy to risk Afghan and coalition troops’ lives in attempts to defuse bombs in abandoned structures.
“Remember that it is the insurgents who rig these buildings with IEDs and use them as weapon caches that threaten local Afghans,” Petraeus said. It’s that Taliban tactic that has necessitated the targeted destruction of buildings too dangerous to inhabit or rehabilitate.
Petraeus has also supported the process leading up to and following such demolitions, which involves close coordination with Afghan authorities, careful surveillance of suspect buildings and strict security protocols to prevent civilian casualties, and swift payment of claims to civilians who suffered damages.
With approval from local leaders, coalition forces have used precision munitions and bulldozers to carry out nearly 300 demolition operations since the beginning of Operation Dragon Strike. The operations have cleared buildings, walls, tree lines and other bomb-rigged structures in Kandahar province. No civilians were killed or injured during the demolitions.
The operations have, however, led to some hardship for Afghans whose property was damaged.
The Afghan government has taken responsibility for reconstructing damaged or destroyed property in the region, and civilians are filing claims through the newly reconstituted local Afghan government. ISAF ensures that claims are legitimate, then processes and pays legitimate claims.
Where public property such as roads and canals are damaged, ISAF has used its own forces and equipment to make repairs, often improving infrastructure beyond its original condition.
The international community spent $4 million to build and repair more that 80 kilometers of roads, and another $230 million worth of improvements to 175 kilometers of roads and bridges will carry on in areas where security has improved.
Coalition forces have also overseen the rehabilitation of Kandahar’s main canal system, completed more than three dozen wells and water treatment projects, refurbished 5 medical clinics, developed a nursing and midwife institute, provided medical supplies and expertise to Kandahar’s medical school, and donated 11 ambulances to the city.
To date the international community has invested $335 million in reconstruction and development in the province, including $180 million for power projects that will boost electricity production in the provincial capital from 16 megawatts to 36 megawatts by March.
Such development is only possible in areas that are secure, and the demolition of bomb-riddled structures has undoubtedly enhanced security, safety and freedom of movement.
In Zhari district, which the Taliban controlled before the Afghan and coalition offensive, the demolition of unsafe structures made it safe again for civilians to access the district center and allowed the Afghan government to reestablish control.
“Tribal leaders and all those people who were displaced during the operations are returning back to their villages and living in a secure environment,” said Javid Faisal, a government employee in the province.
“The security situation has gotten better after the clearing operations in Kandahar, and the number of development projects [has] increased,” Faisal said.
By Matthew Millham
ISAF HQ Public Affairs
More about operations and compensation in Kandahar
• Afghan Security Forces, ISAF Assist Residents in Returning Home
Operation Dragon Strike
Video (courtesy of NATO TV)
Photos
A policeman with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Afghan National Civil Order Police Brigade, carefully approaches the door of an abandoned compound where the battalion discovered an explosives cache Oct. 26, 2010, with U.S. Special Forces in Zhari District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. The ANCOP from 2nd Bn. are partnered with members of Special Operations Task Force – South. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ben Watson / Special Operations Task Force – South).
Sgt. Ibrahim, a 23-year-old native of Afghanistan's Baghlan Province and a squad leader with the 3rd Afghan National Army Commando Kandak, secures a compound during a two-day operation Dec. 19 and 20, 2010, in Zhari District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. The Commandos are partnered with members of Special Operations Task Force – South. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ben Watson / Special Operations Task Force – South).(RELEASED)
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