Pinned down in a series of "Alamos" across the north of Helmand, British soldiers became magnets for attacks from Taliban, drug gangs and locals

Back in 2005, the Blair government committed itself to rebuilding Afghanistan's Helmand province, with a vision that went far beyond what proved possible as revealed in the original planning document released to the BBC.Helmand has proved by a long way to be the Afghan war's bloodiest ground.It is the poorest province in one of the world's poorest countries. But some in Whitehall thought they could transform it into something closer to Belgium when Britain deployed there in the spring of 2006.The hope was that not even a shot would be fired with troops home in 2009.Instead, 323 British servicemen and women have so far been killed in Helmand, 9,500 British troops are still there and the vision has been revised to the development level of Bangladesh, at best, in another 20 years.According to...

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Third British soldier fatally wounded in three days

British soldier has died after being shot in Helmand province.The serviceman, from the 3rd Battalion the Mercian Regiment (Staffords) was on patrol in the southern Nahr-e Saraj district when he came under fire from insurgents yesterday.The soldier had been sent on a patrol with the Afghan National Army to meet with people who had recently reoccupied the Haji Tor Aga Kalaycorrect area of the district.He was part of a protective cordon guarding the meeting when he was shot by insurgents and fatally wounded.His death came as two other British fatalities were named by the MoD. Craftsman Andrew Found, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and Corporal Lloyd Newell, from the Parachute Regiment, died in separate incidents on Thursday.&nb...

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Nine people were killed Saturday when three attackers armed with suicide vests and machine-guns stormed a police station in the heart of the Afghan capital Kabul,

Nine people were killed Saturday when three attackers armed with suicide vests and machine-guns stormed a police station in the heart of the Afghan capital Kabul, officials said.The militants, at least one of whom was in army uniform, got into a compound housing the police station in the crowded main central market area, near the Afghan presidential palace, defence ministry and other official buildings.Five civilians were among the dead along with three policemen and one officer from Afghanistan's intelligence agency, interior ministry spokesman Najib Nikzad said. Ten civilians and two police were wounded.The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest embarrassing breach at a supposedly secure location in Kabul, which comes weeks before limited foreign troop withdrawals are...

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Police Recruits Impose Islamic Tax on Afghans

Ghulam Hazrat should be a poster boy for the peaceful reintegration of insurgents who want to switch sides. Six months ago he was a Taliban commander in the troubled Imam Sahib district of northern Kunduz Province. Now he and 10 of his followers are in the process of becoming police officers, at which point the government will start paying them salaries.Enlarge This ImageIn the meantime, however, Mr. Hazrat is raising money the same way he did as a Taliban commander, by imposing an “Islamic tax” on people in his district.“The government is telling me to fight the Taliban and protect your area so we must ask people for help in order to take care of myself and my friends,” he said in an interview. He and other militiamen who have declared for the government and hope to join the local police,...

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15 people have been killed in a US drone strike in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan

15 people have been killed in a US drone strike in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan, officials say.They told the Associated Press news agency that the attack took place in Shawal region near the Afghan border.The US says North Waziristan is home to several militant groups involved in attacks on Nato forces in Afghanistan.Officials say the drone fired five missiles, destroying a fortress-like militant compound in Zoi village.A vehicle in the area was also reported to have been hit. Officials say the death toll may rise. They said all those killed were militants, but their group affiliations are still unclear.The media are denied access to the area and independent confirmation of the claims is not possible.The BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says the area is controlled by militants...

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UK soldier killed while on a security patrol in Afghanistan has been named.

Father-of-two Corporal Michael John Pike, 26, of 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, died on Friday.His commanding officer described him as "the perfect example of a Highland soldier- loyal and fiercely courageous".The death of Cpl Pike, who was from Huntly, Aberdeenshire, brings the number of UK MoD deaths in operations in Afghanistan since 2001 to 369.He had been sent with his unit to Pupalzay, along the Highway 601 in the Lashkar Gah area of Helmand province.Cpl Pike was taking part in an operation to prevent the insurgents from "intimidating the local population" and attacking an Afghan police checkpoint.His patrol came under fire from rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.'Loyal and courageous'Cpl Pike, who had two children, Joshua and Evelynn, had been deployed to Afghanistan...

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