{"id":40639,"date":"2020-11-04T11:30:02","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T09:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=40639"},"modified":"2020-11-04T12:29:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T10:29:42","slug":"on-a-highway-through-hell-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/on-a-highway-through-hell-in-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"On a Highway through Hell in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: AFP\/Noor Mohammed<\/p><\/div>\n

By\u00a0Fazelminallah Qazizai\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

03:10:2020<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Taliban and government forces are face to face in Helmand with the resumption of peace talk-stalled hostilities the blink of an eye away<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

HELMAND \u2013 In a contested region of Afghanistan, the dividing line between the Taliban and government is a thin one.<\/p>\n

Despite peace talks in Doha, Qatar, now in a second month without any conclusive progress towards a settlement, armed clashes continue in Helmand in the nation\u2019s still volatile and hotly contested south.<\/p>\n

While both sides talk of peace in Doha, on the ground in Helmand both sides are more apparently digging in for more fighting rather than forging reconciliation.<\/p>\n

Helmand is in many ways the heart of Afghanistan. American and British special forces left the battlefield here in 2014, making the province into a symbol of the US-led military coalition\u2019s failure and retreat.<\/p>\n

After 19 years of war, Helmand still serves as the Taliban\u2019s financial hub and until recently the headquarters of its military commission, which has since shifted to Quetta in southern Pakistan.<\/p>\n

That influence is felt and seen on the road to Helmand\u2019s provincial capital Lashkar Gah, a route that passes the Soviet-built Kandahar-Herat highway. The road, recently travelled by this correspondent, is now marked by desolate checkpoints covered in dust and barbed-wire.<\/p>\n

Taliban forces without uniforms sporting moustaches and Kalashnikovs block the passage of vehicles and trucks in spots to ask for \u201ccontributions\u201d of 50 or 100 Afghani, or little more than a US$1. \u201cWe are here to provide you security,\u201d they say, \u201cyour support is welcomed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unshaven drivers \u2013 that is those less likely to be loyal to the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban \u2013 often bypass the blocks by using narrow secondary roads, a trick also used by security forces avoiding roadside improvised explosive devices (IEDs).<\/p>\n

In Helmand, with Taliban flags flying over\u00a0the district of Naher-Seraj bordering on Lashkar Gah, sporting a\u00a0beard is\u00a0often enough to arouse government suspicion.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Taliban previously sent traffic\u00a0alerts\u00a0to locals via text message, warning against leaving the main road to avoid IEDs and other mines. The southern region is still one of the most densely\u00a0mined parts of\u00a0Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

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Map: Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOn one side,\u201d explains Haji Rahman, a Lashkar Gah resident in his 30s, \u201cthe Taliban\u00a0warn us of the dangers of driving away\u00a0from the main road. On the other, government checkpoints block the passage, forcing\u00a0us\u00a0to take the dangerous smaller\u00a0roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

From every side, Helmand\u2019s residents are trapped. Nobody wants to cross the highway due to corrupt checkpoints, but the threat of mines strikes fear into the hearts of all travellers who are forced to move from village to village with the sound of gunfire constant in the air.<\/p>\n

Since the end of NATO combat operations in 2014, the Afghan military took nominal control of the area, with all main passages connecting to the capital Lashkar Gah blocked. The Taliban, meanwhile, took over areas around Kreshk, Naher-Saraj and Nawa districts.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an area, residents warn, where fighting could easily resume considering the proximity of Taliban and government forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Taliban want to capture the Lashkar Gah,\u201d says Sarhadi, \u201cthey can do it in a day, but they don\u2019t. I believe they plan to remain close to the city and enter only in case the Doha talks collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n