Afghan mission shifts amid troop surge

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By Caroline Wyatt Defence correspondent, BBC News UK troops are outnumbered by the US in Helmand and Kandahar

The conflict in Afghanistan is edging into a new phase, as the US focuses its energies on the campaign and the planned increase in troop numbers brings a fresh sense of momentum, according to Nato military commanders.

US reinforcements in Helmand should also finally enable British troops to concentrate their resources on key areas in the most heavily-populated centre of the province, although that may require a change in the command structure to reflect the new balance of forces in Helmand.

An extra 21,000 US troops were deployed in southern Afghanistan last year, with a further 20,000 being deployed this year.

US troops outnumber the UK's 9,500 or so forces in Helmand and Kandahar.

At the same time, more money and Nato police and trainers are being devoted to one of the key strands of American commander of Nato forces Gen Stanley McChrystal's counter-insurgency strategy, which was backed by President Barack Obama in December.

This was to train the Afghan National Army and the Afghan police, so that local forces could begin taking the lead on security, a key plank of the West's eventual exit strategy.

Time has been lost because of lack of focus in the past Lt Gen Bill Caldwell

However, senior Nato commanders have admitted that the training mission, as well as the wider campaign, had until now been under-resourced.

Lt Gen Bill Caldwell of the US Army was brought in under Gen McChrystal to oversee the training of Afghan security forces.

On Thursday, he told journalists in London via a video-link from Kabul that a "culture of poverty" in the resources given to training the Afghan police force had created a major problem.

"Time has been lost because of lack of focus in the past," he said. The task of preparing the country's police force to take over security was "very much under-resourced", with the quality of the men in uniform often sacrificed in favour of quantity.

Afghans themselves have often complained of corruption and extortion by the police force, whose recruits were paid less than their army counterparts.

Drug problem

A recent pay rise for both the Afghan National Army (ANA) and police now sees new recruits earn the same amount - US$165 (£100) a month, rising to $245 after promotion or three years' experience, with extra money as an incentive for serving in more dangerous areas.

Nato's aim is to raise the numbers of ANA from the current 96,000 to 134,000 and the size of the police force from 89,000 to 109,000.

But among the problems Gen Caldwell discovered when he took over command was that police officers were deemed to have qualified after their eight-week training course if they were present on the first and last day, rather than whether they had passed their tests.

Police officers had, he said, "been recruited and employed, but not trained".

Drug-taking and widespread illiteracy have also hindered training in the past.

New recruits are now screened for drugs and rejected if they are addicts, while the literacy rate of only 14% among new recruits means that basic training has to be done by showing them what to do.

The new training scheme is backed by 20 countries, with more than 800 new US trainers to be drawn from troop reinforcements being sent by President Obama, as well as extra police officers arriving from the UK.

Success is achievable but it is not a foregone conclusion Lt Gen Bill Caldwell

Thirty-two serving or former British police officers are currently working as mentors for Afghan recruits, with a £19m contribution from the UK specifically for the policing mission.

The police training system has long been a source of concern for Nato.

The task was given to Germany after the fall of the Taliban, but its programme failed to make headway and was abandoned.

The EU was then asked to take the lead, but that too proved less than successful.

Now, Gen Caldwell says, "definite improvements" have been made.

"Success is achievable," he said, "but it is not a foregone conclusion. Ultimately, success will be dependent on the Afghans - they have to make the difference themselves."

Until recently, the wider number of new Afghan police abandoning their jobs had been as high as 16%, or up to 45% for members of Afghan national security forces being deployed to the south of the country.

Brig Simon Levey, the British officer in Kabul in charge of NCO and officer training, said those figures had been reduced to 5-10% since the recent pay rise.

'Nonsensical situation'

US troops are likely to take over from the British in Musa Qala and the Sangin Valley, two areas where British troops have suffered some of their heaviest losses.

A senior British army spokesman said that it was "nonsensical" to maintain a situation where British troops were responsible for looking after 60% of the population of Helmand with just 30% of the total force levels.

The rotating regional command is widely expected to be restructured, to take into account the changes in troop numbers, with US forces set to take over the dominant role in the south.

British commander Maj Gen Nick Carter is currently in charge of Nato forces in Regional Command South, an area about the size of England and Wales which includes the key provinces of Helmand and Kandahar - the focus of much of the Taliban's efforts.

In a recent briefing, Maj Gen Carter said British troops could concentrate on the most populated towns along the River Helmand, the so-called green zone, while US Task Force Stryker - equipped with 1,500 heavy armoured vehicles - protected the main highways, which are crucial for convoys bringing in supplies from Pakistan and for Afghanistan's economic development.

By the end of the year, British troops should be working mainly in the central districts of Helmand, linking Kandahar and the agricultural heartland of Helmand, including Lashkar Gah, Gereshk and Garmsir, an area which is home to almost two million people.

US marines are already working to the south of British forces around Garmsir, and may also take over northern areas of the province, although there are still sensitivities about handing over the town of Sangin itself to US forces after the deaths of so many British troops there.

Maj Gen Carter said the next phase of the campaign was to assert Afghan government control over the whole of Helmand.

'Huge promises'

The influx of American forces had changed the dynamic in the province, he said, bringing significant extra resources in terms of troop numbers, intelligence capabilities and equipment.

"They come with a lot of money, and a significant number of civilians."

Nato military commanders are also focusing more closely on partnering the Afghan security forces and understanding local tribal dynamics.

Maj Gen Carter said Nato's mission statement in Afghanistan was no longer defeating an insurgency, but protecting the population.

On Sunday, the head of the British army told the BBC that failure in Afghanistan was not an option, because it would have an "intoxicating effect on militant Islam around the world".

General Sir David Richards said he expected another tough year ahead, but that military casualties should start to decline towards the end of the year.

He stressed it was important for the UK to honour the "huge promises" it had made to the people of Afghanistan.