However it is unlikely that the violence will cease immediately in Sangin as the die-hard Taleban leadership under the command of Mulla Omar, which is based in the Pakistani city of Quetta, will keep fighting. But the cooperation of the tribal leaders in the effort to rid the area of insurgents could help shorten the war in one of the most violent places in Afghanistan.
As part of the deal, Mills said “there was also a pledge from the elders that fighting would cease by insurgents against coalition forces and foreign fighters would be expelled from the area.” He added, “We are cautiously optimistic of this agreement and will monitor whether it leads to reduced insurgent influence and a rejection of illicit activity.” With the nearly decade-old war growing increasing unpopular in the United States and in many NATO capitals, success on the battlefield is an important part of President Barack Obama’s plan to begin a gradual withdrawal of American forces in July 2011, and eventually hand over control of the country’s security to the Afghans by the end of 2014.
The deal was made with the Alikozai tribe, the largest in the Sarwan-Qalah area of the Upper Sangin Valley. The tribe controls the majority of the 30 villages located in a 17-square-kilometer region, said Mangal spokesman Daoud Ahmadi. The tribe last rose up against the Taleban in 2007 but failed because of a lack of resources and coalition help.
Sangin is one of the last remaining sanctuaries in Helmand where the Taleban can freely process the opium and heroin that largely fund the insurgency.
“The insurgents have already begun to strike back savagely at those who desire peace but so far the elders remain steadfast,” Mills said.
Mills said that his forces would continue to push into Taleban and insurgent-controlled areas and would fight back if confronted.
According to Mangal’s office the deal was struck on Saturday in the center of Sangin after 25 days of negotiations.
“As they are the majority in that area we can say this will be a successful process in that area,” Ahmadi said. As part of the counterinsurgency plan mapped out by Gen.
David Petraeus, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, once an area is cleared of insurgents, development and reconstruction aid will follow.
“They want schools,m edical clinics, and the freedom to move about without fear of the insurgency,” Mills said.
A senior NATO official said that coalition forces will keep pressure on insurgents in 2011 to lock in the gains made on the battlefield despite taking a record number of casualties last year.
“There will be no end of the fighting season and we will maintain pressure on the insurgency everywhere. We will do more of everything, in terms of military and kinetic activities, more development more reintegration activities,” coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Josef Blotz said.
He said last year’s infusion of more than 30,000 troops, mostly from the United States, helped turn the tide in many parts of Afghanistan, especially in the south.
But Blotz added that “these gains are not yet irreversible, they are still fragile.” Also unclear is what gains have been made against insurgent groups in the north and east, especially along the porous frontier with Pakistan. Many insurgent groups use safe havens in the Pakistani tribal areas to launch attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan.
“This is a necessary phase in the overall strategy and before it gets better it has to get worse. Unfortunately this is what we saw toward the end of 2010,” Blotz said.
A record 702 of the coalition’s service members were killed in 2010. But the Afghan police and the military have also shouldered a heavy toll with 1,292 members of the police force and 806 soldiers were killed last year, according to Afghan statistics.
