Helmand (
Pashto/
Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand,
[ is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ]districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
, encompassing over 1,000 villages, and roughly 1,446,230 settled people.[ Lashkargah serves as the provincial capital. Helmand was part of the '' Greater Kandahar'' region until made into a separate province by the Afghan government in the 20th century.
The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region of the province, providing water used for irrigation. The Kajaki Dam, which is one of Afghanistan's major reservoirs, is located in the Kajaki district. Helmand is believed to be one of the world's largest ]opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
producing regions, responsible for around 42% of the world's total production.[
] This is believed to be more than the whole of Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, which is the second-largest producing nation after Afghanistan. The region also produces tobacco, sugar beet
A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...
s, cotton, sesame
Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...
, wheat, mung bean
The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract G ...
s, maize, nuts, sunflower
The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...
s, onions, potato, tomato, cauliflower
Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus ''Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – the ...
, peanut, apricot
An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''.
Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...
, grape, and melon.[ The province has a domestic airport ( Bost Airport), in the city of Lashkargah that was heavily used by NATO-led forces. The former British ]Camp Bastion
Camp Shorabak (formerly Camp Bastion) is a former British Army airbase, located northwest of the city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The camp was situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres.
The camp was built ...
and the U.S. Camp Leatherneck is a short distance southwest of Lashkargah.
Throughout the 2001-2021 war in Afghanistan, Helmand was a hotbed of insurgent activities and was often considered at the time to be Afghanistan's "most dangerous" province. The province also witnessed some of the heaviest fighting during the war, where at its peak hundreds of civilians were being killed monthly. Its suitable climate for the cultivation of a wide range of crops also contributed greatly to the Taliban's finances. Additionally, Helmand is considered to be one of Afghanistan's most socially conservative areas.
History
Helmand culture
Helmand culture of western Afghanistan was a Bronze Age culture of the 3rd millennium BC. It is exemplified by such major sites as Shahr-i Sokhta, Mundigak, and Bampur.
The term "Helmand civilization" was proposed by M. Tosi. This civilization flourished between 2500 BC and 1900 BC and may have coincided with the great flourishing of the Indus Valley civilisation. This was also the final phase of Periods III and IV of Shahr-i Sokhta, and the last part of Mundigak Period IV.
According to Jarrige et al.,
There were also links between Shahr-i Sokhta I, II, and III periods, and Mundigak III and IV periods, and between the sites of Balochistan and the Indus valley at the end of the 4th millennium, as well as in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC.
The Jiroft culture is closely related to the Helmand culture. The Jiroft culture flourished in eastern Iran, and the Helmand culture in western Afghanistan at the same time. They may represent the same cultural area. The Mehrgarh culture, on the other hand, is far earlier.
Achaemenid times
Helmand was inhabited by ancient peoples and governed by the Medes before falling to the Achaemenids.
Later, the area was part of the ancient Arachosia polity, and a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in Asia, which connects Southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
, Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and Southwest Asia.
The Helmand river valley is mentioned by name in the Avesta (Fargard 1:13) as ''Haetumant'', one of the early centers or origins of the Zoroastrian faith, in pre-Islamic Afghan history
The ancient history of Afghanistan, also referred to as the pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan, dates back to the prehistoric era and the Indus Valley civilization around 3300–1300 BCE. Archaeological exploration began in Afghanistan in earnest ...
. However, owing to the presence of non-Zoroastrians even though Zoroastrians being dominant before the Islamization of Afghanistan – particularly Buddhist.
Some Vedic scholars (e.g. Kochhar 1999) also believe the Helmand river corresponds to the Sarasvati river mentioned in the ''Rig Veda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...
'' as the homeland of the Aryan tribes before migrating into the Indian Subcontinent, ca. 1500 BCE.
Alexander the Great to modern times
It was invaded in 330 BC by Alexander the Great and became part of the Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
. Later, it came under the rule of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, who erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic. The territory was referred to as part of Zabulistan and ruled by the sun-worshipping Zunbils before the Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
Arabs arrived in the 7th century, who were led by Abdur Rahman bin Samara. It later fell to the Saffarids of Zaranj and saw the first Muslim rule. Mahmud of Ghazni
Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn ( fa, ; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi ( fa, ), was the founder of the Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 998 to 1030. At th ...
made it part of the Ghaznavids
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...
in the 10th century, who were replaced by the Ghurids.
After the destructions caused by Genghis Khan
''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan''
, birth_name = Temüjin
, successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Borjigin
, ...
and his Mongol army in the 13th century, the Timurids established rule and began rebuilding Afghan cities. From about 1383 until his death in 1407, it was governed by Pir Muhammad, a grandson of Timur. By the early 16th century, it fell to Babur
Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...
. However, the area was often contested by the Shia Safavids and Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
Mughals until the rise of Mir Wais Hotak in 1709. He defeated the Safavids and established the Hotaki dynasty. The Hotakis ruled it until 1738 when the Afsharids defeated Shah Hussain Hotaki
Shah Hussain Hotak, (Pashto/Dari: ), son of Mirwais Hotak, was the fifth and last ruler of the Hotak dynasty. An ethnic Pashtun (''Afghan'') from the Ghilji tribe, he succeeded to the throne after the death of his brother Mahmud Hotak in 1725. He ...
at what is now Old Kandahar.
Durrani era
When Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...
came to power in 1747, after Nader Shah
Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...
was assassinated, he began redistributing land grants that had been given by his predecessor. At that time, the area of what is now Helmand province was part of Kandahar Province (which continued until it was split off into the new Farah Province during the reign of Sher Ali Khan), and it was known as ''Pusht-e Rud'', or "across the river", reflecting how the region was viewed from Kandahar, which was Ahmad Shah's capital. Pusht-e Rud traditionally consisted into four districts: Zamindawar, Now Zad, Pusht-e Rud proper, and Garmsir. Ahmad Shah's land redistribution legitimized existing Alizai influence in Zamindawar, while the powerful Barakzai received Pusht-e Rud proper, and the district of Garmsir in the south was granted to the Noorzai to protect against Baluch raids. Now Zad was divided between the Noorzai and the Ishaqzai. This arrangement has survived, with a few exceptions, until the present day.
Then, as now, relatively few members of the Popolzai tribe (to which Ahmad Shah Durrani belonged) lived in Helmand. The Durrani monarchs were thus ambivalent towards the area's tribes and didn't favor any one tribe over the others. Rather, they treated the tribes according to their relative power. Thus, the powerful Barakzai tribe received a hereditary position as ministers to the crown, as well as some of the most valuable land in Helmand: the alluvial plains around present-day Malgir
Malgir is a village in Gereshk District in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. It is located approximately 15 kilometres southwest of Gereshk. In recent years the area has been subject to many conflicts with the British army and the Taliban.
On 1 Fe ...
, Babaji, and Spin Masjid
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...
, as well as the strategically important Gereshk.
That changed in 1826, when Dost Mohammad Khan, himself a Barakzai, seized power. Dost Mohammad increased taxes on non-Barakzai tribes in Helmand, especially the Alizai of Zamindawar. When the Alizai didn't pay taxes, a Barakzai punitive expedition was sent to Zamindawar, and in Alizai clan chiefs were executed. During this period, the Alizai began to view the Barakzai as enemies, creating the Alizai-Barakzai dynamic that still heavily influences Helmand politics.
At this time, the area around Garmsir was effectively independent, and ignored by the monarchy in Kabul.
Anglo-Afghan Wars
In 1839, the British deposed Dost Mohammad Khan in favor of the Popolzai Shah Shujah Durrani. In doing so, they hoped to limit Russian influence in Afghanistan. Hoping to secure the loyalty of Helmandi tribal leaders, Shah Shujah reinstated the titles they had previously enjoyed under Popolzai rule, and he also held off on taxing them until his position was stronger. However, he kept the Barakzai tax collectors in office, and they resumed collection in 1840. When a Barakzai tax collector was killed at Sarwan Qala
Sarwan may refer to:
People
*Ramnaresh Sarwan (born 1980), former West Indian cricketer
*Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Indian politician, minister in the Punjab, India
Places
*Sarwan, Deoghar, a community development block in Deoghar district, J ...
that year, the British sent in troops to enforce collection, a political blunder leading to open rebellion by the Alizai. It is not known if the British were aware of the political ramifications of Shah Shujah's decision to retain the Barakzai tax collectors, but they were completely bewildered by the ensuing rebellion, reflecting a clear lack of understanding of local dynamics on their part.
The leader of the rebellion was Aktur Khan, who had risen to prominence during this dispute. His invocations of Alizai honor and appeals to group identity had resulted in him attaining chieftainship of the Alizai. After some skirmishes, the British offered to remove the Barakzai tax collectors in return for the dispersal of Aktur Khan's 1,300 followers. This soon broke down, and by May 1841, Aktur Khan led a force of 3,000 men to capture Gereshk. The British retook Gereshk at the beginning of June and then led punitive expeditions into Zamindawar, and eventually the rebellion was defeated and Aktur Khan fled to Herat.
British-backed Barakzai horsemen were sent to reinforce Gereshk in November 1841. The Alizai repeatedly tried to capture it, but the Barakzai were able to maintain control until August 1842 because the other Barakzai who lived there kept them well-supplied.
Dost Mohammad Khan was reinstalled for a second reign when the British withdrew from Afghanistan, but he ran into financial difficulties and sought a subsidy from the British in 1857. He distributed money from this subsidy unevenly among Helmandi tribes, favoring the Barakzai over the others, which upset the balance of power between the tribes. The subsidy also divided Afghanistan into British and Russian spheres of influence, with Gereshk and the Helmand river being on the border between them, increasing the area's strategic importance. The subsidy ended in 1862 when Dost Mohammad died and a succession crisis broke out between his sons. Helmandis fought as mercenaries
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...
on the side of one of them, Sher Ali Khan, playing a role in his eventual victory. The deciding battle was fought at Gereshk in 1868.
Indebted to the Helmandi tribes for their contributions during the war, Sher Ali scaled back tax collection in the area and reduced the allowances to the Barakzai khans. Because of this, the Alizai did not rebel during his reign. Another key development for Helmand (Pusht-e Rud) during Sher Ali's reign was that he moved its four traditional districts into the newly created Farah Province, moving it out of Kandahar's sphere of influence and meaning that he could influence the Pusht-e Rud area without going through a relative in Kandahar.
In November 1878, the British invaded Afghanistan again. They occupied Gereshk until February 1879; an Alizai force of 1500 attacked them as they withdrew. Sher Ali died soon after, however, and the British wanted to again occupy Gereshk as a forward outpost against Sher Ali's son Ayub Khan
Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...
. Perhaps realizing that the presence of their troops garrisoning Helmandi forts upset locals, the British sent a proxy Barakzai force to occupy Gereshk.
Ayub Khan found ample support from Helmandis in his subsequent campaign against the British: three or four thousand Alizai tribesmen, led by a man named Abu Bakr, had joined his army by October, as did a smaller contingent of Noorzai. Doubting the Barakzai's loyalty, the British sent some of their own troops to reinforce Gereshk in July 1880, led by George Burrows. The Barakzai promptly mutinied and went over to Ayub Khan's side — a rare Barakzai-Alizai alliance, joining against a common enemy. The British withdrew and Ayub Khan's army pursued, leading to a major Afghan victory at the Battle of Maiwand on 27 July. Having achieved their main goal of defeating the British, the Alizai then left and returned to Zamindawar.
The British later defeated Ayub Khan, but they ended up withdrawing from Afghanistan altogether, installing Abdur Rahman Khan as the new ruler and giving him a subsidy. Abdur Rahman Khan was a strong and intelligent state-builder who used the subsidy to finance a professional army. He defeated Abu Bakr of the Alizai and had him exiled, after which the Alizai cooperated with paying taxes. He used a combination of incentives and force to move the Ishaqzai and Noorzai to the northwestern part of Afghanistan, away from the lands along the Helmand they had been granted by Nader Shah. Their relocation was a disaster and many ended up returning to the Helmand area.
When they came back, however, they were only given scattered, less-productive lands. This dramatically changed the power dynamic of the Helmand area, marking the beginning of Ishaqzai and (to a lesser degree) Noorzai disenfranchisement from government that has continued into the 21st century. The Noorzai would occupy marginal lands until the late 20th century, and the Ishaqzai population remains dispersed and scattered throughout Helmand today.
The weakening of Helmand's non-Barakzai tribes, combined with a policy of non-interference with the tribes, led to stability in the region throughout Abdur Rahman's reign. This continued during the rule of his son Habibullah, who died in 1919.
20th century development projects
An important development was the re-construction of the Nahr-e Saraj canal, beginning in 1910. Newly irrigated areas that had previously been desert were now populated with ethnic and tribal groups who were not originally from Helmand, including refugees from Central Asia fleeing Soviet rule. Many of the villages along the canal therefore are named after these groups, such as Uzbek, Turkmen, and Popolzai. The government had originally planned to continue developing the Helmand area during the 1920s, but ended up shelving that project due to unrest over Amanullah's social reforms. In 1936, after the Musahiban dynasty had come to power, the government began construction of another canal in Helmand, the Nahr-e Bughra. The Afghan government originally sought out US financial and technical assistance, but the US refused, so instead it was the Germans and Japanese who contributed. The Nahr-e Bughra project employed up to 7,000 workers, and there were also other small-scale development projects in the area at the same time. Roads, bridges, and telephone wires were built to connect the major settlements. This was the first externally supervised development project in Helmand. However, when World War II broke out, the British requested that the German and Japanese engineers be expelled from Afghanistan, and the government had to continue on its own.
Helmand was the center of the USAID program in the 1960s to develop the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA) – it became known locally as "little America". The program laid out tree-lined streets in Lashkargah, built a network of irrigation canals and constructed a large hydroelectric dam. The development program was abandoned when pro-Soviet Union forces seized power in 1978, although much of the province is still irrigated by the HAVA.
Administrative changes
Thanks in part to the irrigation projects, the Pusht-e Rud area had become more important, and the government recognized this by splitting it off from Farah Province to create a new ''Gereshk Province'' in 1960. Gereshk was made the capital to reflect the historical importance of the Barakzai, which had been diluted by the influx of outside settlers in the province. The US, however, cared more that the HVA headquarters was in Lashkar Gah, and they successfully lobbied the Afghan government to relocate the provincial capital there. This happened in 1964, and the province was renamed "Helmand Province".
For the first time since 1826, the Helmandi Barakzai were no longer dominant in the region. To compensate for this, the government completelty redrew the district boundaries in Helmand. The four traditional districts were abolished and replaced new districts. These new districts, greater in number than the traditional ones, were each assigned an "order", which determined how much resources would be allocated to each district. Additionally, since the 1964 constitution introduced voting, the new districts were drawn in a way allowing the government to maintain influence and control.
The former Barakzai-dominated district of Pusht-e Rud proper, or Gereshk, was split into Nahr-e Seraj (the only 1st order district in the province), Nawa (4th order), and Lashkar Gah (which, as the capital, had its own resourcing protocol). Lashkar Gah district was gerrymandered
In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...
to give the Barakzai a majority over the mixed tribes in the urban area: a slice of Barakzai-dominated Babaji was included, and the boundary with Nad-e Ali district was drawn on the border of Barakzai territory in Bolan. This way, the Barakzai central government was able to retain control of even the new capital of Helmand.
Meanwhile, the Alizai district of Zamindawar was split into Musa Qala (2nd order), Baghran
Baghrān ( ps, بغران) is a village and the district center of Baghran District in Helmand province, Afghanistan. It is located at and at an altitude of 1,564 m. The population of Baghran and the nearest settlements is 26,724.
In 2005 th ...
(4th order), and Kajaki
Kajaki is a village in southern Afghanistan, and is split between two townsteads, Kajaki 'Olya, and Kajaki Sofla. It is the district centre of Kajaki District in Helmand Province. North east of the village is an important hydro power station fo ...
(sub-district status). Now Zad, with its mixed Noorzai and Ishaqzai population, was split into Now Zad (2nd order) and Washir (sub-district status). Garmsir district
Garmsir District (or Garmser; ps, ګرمسير; from Persian گرمسیر, meaning "hot place") is located in the southern part of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The district is large, but all the villages are along the Helmand River. The rest is ...
was the only one of the traditional districts to remain intact; it was given 3rd-order status. The 37 different tribes and ethnicities who had immigrated to Nad-e Ali and Marjah were lumped into a single 3rd-order district. Finally, the sub-district of Sangin was created to separate the Alikozai tribe, closely related to the Barakzai, from the Alizai.
21st century
During Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...
, the United States Agency for International Development program contributed to a counter-narcotics initiative called the Alternative Livelihoods Program (ALP) in the province. It paid communities to work to improve their environment and economic infrastructure as an alternative to opium poppy
''Papaver somniferum'', commonly known as the opium poppy or breadseed poppy, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is the species of plant from which both opium and poppy seeds are derived and is also a valuable ornamen ...
farming. The project undertook drainage and canal rehabilitation projects. In 2005 and 2006, there were problems in getting promised finance to communities and this was a source of considerable tension between the farmers and the Coalition forces.
After it was decided to deploy British troops to the Province, PJHQ tasked 22 SAS
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...
to conduct a reconnaissance of the province. The review was led by Mark Carleton-Smith, who found the province largely at peace due to the brutal rule of Sher Mohammad Akhundzada
Sher Mohammed Akhundzada (also known as Sher Ahmed Akhundzada) is a tribal leader who was the Governor of Helmand in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2005.
Early life
Sher Mohammed was born to the Akhundzada family in northern Helmand province, which ...
, and a booming opium-fuelled economy that benefited the pro-government warlords. In June he reported back to the MoD
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
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* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
warning them not to remove Akhundzada and against the deployment of a large British force which would likely cause conflict where none existed.
It was announced in January 2006 in the British Parliament that International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would replace the U.S. troops
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is th ...
in the province as part of Operation Herrick. The British 16 Air Assault Brigade
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, from 1999 to 2021 16 Air Assault Brigade, is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Army's rapid response airborne formation and is the only brigade in the Britis ...
would be the core of the force in Helmand Province. British bases were located in the districts of Sangin, Lashkargah and Grishk. British forces were replaced in Sangin by elements of the United States Marine Corps I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward.
In summer 2006, Helmand was one of the provinces involved in Operation Mountain Thrust, a combined NATO-Afghan mission targeted at Taliban fighters in the south of the country. In July 2006, this offensive mission essentially stalled in Helmand as NATO, primarily British, and Afghan troops were forced to take increasingly defensive positions under heavy insurgent pressure. In response, British troop levels in the province were increased, and new encampments were established in Sangin and Grishk. Fighting was particularly heavy in the districts of Sangin, Naway, Nawzad and Garmsir. There were reports that the Taliban saw Helmand province as a key testing area for their ability to take and hold Afghan territory from NATO-led Afghan National Security Forces
The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), also known as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), were the military and internal security forces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Structure
The Afghan National Security Forc ...
. Commanders on the ground described the situation as the most brutal conflict the British Army had been involved in since the Korean War.
In Autumn 2006, British troops started to reach "cessation of hostilities" agreements with local Taliban forces around the district centers where they had been stationed earlier in the summer. Under the terms of the agreement, both sets of forces were to withdraw from the conflict zone. This agreement from the British forces implied that the strategy of holding key bases in the district, as requested by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was essentially untenable with the levels of British troop deployment. The agreement was also a setback for Taliban fighters, who were desperate to consolidate their gains in the province, but were under heavy pressure from various NATO offensives.
News reports identified the insurgents involved in the fighting as a mix of Taliban fighters and warring tribal groups who are heavily involved in the province's lucrative opium trade. Given the amount of drugs produced in the area, it is likely that foreign drug traffickers were also involved.
Fighting continued throughout the winter, with British and allied troops taking a more pro-active stance against the Taliban insurgents. Several operations were launched including ''Operation Silicone'' at the start of spring. In May 2007, Mullah Dadullah, one of the Taliban's top commanders, along with 11 of his men were killed by NATO-led Afghan forces in Helmand.
In April 2008, about 1,500 2nd Battalion 7th Marines
The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines (2/7) is a light infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and consist of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors. The battali ...
occupied over of Helmand River valley and neighboring Farah Province. The operation was to set up forward operation bases and train the Afghan National Police in an area with little or no outside support.
Also in 2008, an Embedded Training Team from the Oregon Army National Guard led a Kandak of Afghan National Army
Afghan may refer to:
*Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia
* Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity
**Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
troops in fighting against the Taliban in Lashkargah, as seen in the documentary Shepherds of Helmand
''Shepherds of Helmand'' is a war film directed by Gary Mortensen. It premiered on February 3, 2011, by Lucky Forward Films. The documentary follows 17 men from the United States Army, Oregon Army National Guard who volunteered to train a kandak ...
.
In June 2009, ''Operation Panther's Claw'' was launched with the stated aim of securing control of various canal and river crossings and establishing a lasting ISAF presence in an area described by Lt. Col. Richardson as "one of the main Taliban strongholds" ahead of the 2009 Afghan presidential election.
In July 2009, around 4,000 U.S. Marines pushed into the Helmand River valley in a major offensive to liberate the area from Taliban insurgents. The operation, dubbed Operation Khanjar (''Operation Dagger''), was the first major push since U.S. President Obama's request for 21,000 additional soldiers in Afghanistan, targeting the Taliban insurgents.
In February 2013, '' BBC'' reported that corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
occurs in Afghan National Police bases, with some bases arming children, using them as servants and sometimes sexually abusing
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...
them; in early March 2013, the '' New York Times'' reported that government corruption is rampant with routine accusations against the police of shaking down and sexually abusing civilians causing loyalty to the government to be weaker.
On 13 August 2021, the capital of the province Lashkar Gah fell to the Taliban after weeks of fighting in the Battle of Lashkargah
The Battle of Lashkargah was a battle between the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and the Taliban for control of the city of Lashkargah. The United States supported Afghan forces with airstrikes. The fighting started in late July 2021, an ...
. Around 1,500 Afghan soldiers were said to have surrendered, leaving the province in Taliban hands. According to '' The Washington Post'', the US withdrawal and Taliban victory was mostly met with relief in Helmand; the province had suffered through some of the deadliest battles of the war from 2001 to 2021 and heavy US-led bombardments.
Transport
Bost Airport serves the population of Helmand for domestic flights to other parts of the country. It is designed for civilian use. NATO-led forces heavily used the airport at Camp Shorabak, formerly Camp Bastion
Camp Shorabak (formerly Camp Bastion) is a former British Army airbase, located northwest of the city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The camp was situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres.
The camp was built ...
. Camp Leatherneck, which used to be the main British base in Afghanistan during the occupation, is also adjacent. All sites were claimed by the Taliban on 13 August 2021.
There is no rail service. Primary roads include the ring road passes through Helmand from Kandahar to Delaram. There is a major north–south route (Highway 611) that goes from Lashkargah to Sangin. About 33% of Helmands roads are not passable during certain seasons and in some areas, there are no roads at all.
Economy
Farming is the main source of income for the majority. This includes agriculture and animal husbandry. Animals include cows, sheep, goats, and chicken. Donkeys and camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
s are used for labor. The province has a potential for fishery. The region produce the following: opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
, tobacco, cotton, wheat and potato.
Healthcare
The percentage of households with clean drinking water fell from 28% in 2005 to 3% in 2011.
The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 2% in 2005 to 3% in 2011.
Education
The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 5% in 2005 to 12% in 2011.
The overall net enrollment rate (6–13 years of age) fell from 6% in 2005 to 4% in 2011.
Demographics
As of 2020, the population of Helmand Province is about 1,446,230. It is mostly a tribal and rural society, with the ethnic Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
being predominant; there is a significant Baloch
Baloch, also spelled Baloch, Beluch and in other ways, may refer to:
* Baloch people, an ethnic group of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan
* Baluch, a small itinerant community of Afghanistan
* Balouch, Azad Kashmir, a town in Pakistan
* Baloch (s ...
minority in the south, and there is small minority of Tajiks, and a significant minority of Hazaras in the far northern regions of the province. The Pashtuns are divided into the following tribes: Barakzai (32%), Nurzai (16%), Alakozai
Alakozai ( ps, الکوزی - meaning ''descendant of Alako'' in Pashto) is the name of a Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan. Spelling variations include Alakozi, Alakoozi, Alekozai, Alekuzei, Alikozai, Alokozay, Alokozay, Alkozai, Alokzai, Hulakozai ...
(9%), and Eshaqzai (5.2%). All the inhabitants practice Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagre ...
except the small number of Hazaras who are Shi'as and the Sikhs who follow Sikhism. 53.5% of the population lived below the national poverty line.
Districts
Politicians
* Mohammad Daoud
See also
* Provinces of Afghanistan
* 2007 Helmand province airstrikes
* Dashti Margo
* Operation Khanjar
Gallery
File:Kajaki Dam and spillway in 2012.jpg, The Kajaki Dam (left) and spillway (right)
Mountains Aflame.jpg, Mountains in Musa Qala District during sunset
File:Afghan Local Police (ALP), Afghan National Police and Afghan Border Police officers stand in formation during an ALP graduation ceremony at the regional ALP training center in the Lashkar Gah district, Helmand 130606-A-RI362-222.jpg, Afghan National Security Forces
The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), also known as the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), were the military and internal security forces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
Structure
The Afghan National Security Forc ...
, which includes Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan Border Police (ABP) and Afghan Local Police (ALP)
File:Afghan children wave flags during a celebration of the Islamic religious holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the Garmsir district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Aug 110831-M-ED643-010.jpg, Afghans with national flags
References
External links
{{authority control
Provinces of Afghanistan
Provinces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan