Musa Qala is a

district 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 ...

in the north of

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primar ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

.UNHCR District Profile
dated 2002-12-31, accessed 2006-08-01 (PDF). Its population was around 57,500 in 2012 and are 97% ethnic

Pashtun 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 ...

. The district centre is the village of

Musa Qala ; "Fortress of Moses") is a town and the district centre of Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is located at and at an altitude of 1,043 m in the valley of Musa Qala River in the central western part of the district. Its popul ...

; there are 19 other large villages and 200 smaller settlements, mostly along the

Musa Qala River The Musa Qala ( ps, د موسى قلعه رود) is a river in Afghanistan. It is a tributary of the Helmand River and highly participates in the irrigation of arable lands of the district. It is flowing 90 km through the Musa Qala ; "Fortres ...

. The area is irrigated by the

Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority The Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA) based in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, originally named the Helmand Valley Authority (HVA) until its expansion in 1965,(pdf) The Helmand Valley Project in Afghanistan: A.I.D. Evaluation Special Study No. 18
C Clapp-Wicek & E Baldwin, U.S. Agency for International Development, published December 1983

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

-led

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

extended its presence to this region in mid-2006. Musa Qala, along with the rest of Helmand, was to be under the responsibility of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

forces. The village of Musa Qala was the scene of fierce fighting between British

Pathfinder Platoon The Pathfinder Platoon is a pathfinder unit of the British Army, and an integral part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Pathfinder Platoon acts as the brigade's advance force and reconnaissance force. Its role includes locating and marking drop zon ...

troops and Taliban insurgents during the summer of 2006. The British had set up a stronghold in the local governor's office and faced daily waves of determined attacks. The British garrison was later relieved by a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

team who faced renewed insurgent attacks, culminating in better-trained militant fighters equipped with rockets and mortars. After a month of these attacks, the fighting died down, and the Danish forces handed control of the base back to British forces. On 17 October 2006, after a 35-day lull in violence, the British left the village, handing over control to the local elders' council.

History

On January 1979, Musa Qala fell to Nasim Akhundzada after a battle against a pro-government militia led by Ghulam Dastgar Mahali, and the district governor, Zabit Aulleah, fled. Three days later, Afghan forces captured the district and installed the new district governor from Nangarhar, Sher Gul. On February 1979, the government withdrew its army, and Nasim Akhudzada recaptured Musa Qala and executed thirty elders who cooperated with the government. On August 26, 2015,

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

fighters seized control of district headquarters from Afghan forces.

2007 fighting between ISAF and Taliban insurgents

A unit of several hundred Taliban soldiers occupied

on February 2, 2007. ''Eurasianet'' reported: ''"The attack laid waste to an agreement there, brokered last fall by Richards and local tribal elders, under which NATO troops agreed to withdraw from the town in return for a commitment by local Afghan leaders to oppose the Taliban." British

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

David J. Richards General (United Kingdom), General David Julian Richards, Baron Richards of Herstmonceux, (born 4 March 1952) is a retired senior British Army officer who was formerly the Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom), Chief of the Defence Staff, t ...

, an expert at negotiation, was the outgoing NATO commander. Eurasianet reported that the new NATO commander,

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

General

Dan McNeill Dan Kelly McNeill (born July 23, 1946) is a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He served as Commander, Coalition Forces, Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003 and as Commanding General, U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) from 2004 to ...

, opposes the kind of local agreements that Richards favored, and speculated that the aerial bombardment that was reported to have killed Mullah Abdul Ghafour in February 2007 was a sign of McNeill's more aggressive, less conciliatory approach.

External links

Map of Settlements
AIMS, May 2002

References

{{Authority control Districts of Helmand Province

History

2007 fighting between ISAF and Taliban insurgents

External links

See also

References