Sunlight refracts through the window of a Humvee with a colorful result as an Afghan road crew lays fresh asphalt on the Naray-Asmar Road in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province, March 6. The project is considered essential for the region as it will help residents in the area have improved access to their government and its services. Afghan security guards help protect the road workers from militant attacks. Photo by Staff Sgt. Gary Witte

A road can be more than just a means of transportation – especially in eastern Afghanistan.

Afghan workers have spent the past year paving a stretch of road that runs through the heart of Kunar province and its main valley. About 13 kilometers of section near Forward Operating Base Bostick are complete, with more planned to help connect northeastern mountain communities to the Afghan government in Jalalabad, officials said.

U.S. Army Capt. Brian J. Stoffer of Winsor, Colo., the task force engineer for Task Force Destroyer, said the road paving, managed by the Afghan Engineer District, is the most important project in his unit’s area of operations.

“Because the population [here] is so disconnected from the population in the south, what it really means is they are disconnected from their government,” Stoffer said. “They’re disconnected from commerce. They’re isolated up here.”

The planned paving from Nishigam in Kunar to Kamdesh in the Nuristan province will create 55 kilometers of modern roadway through the area – not including the improvement of numerous feeder roads to otherwise remote valleys and villages.

Likewise, a private company’s efforts to build cellular towers in the area is seen as another way the public can communicate better with their government as well as each other. Security concerns are a factor for the towers although they are not an International Security Assistance Forces project, said U.S. Army Capt. Ben W. Woods of Belding, Mich., the civil affairs officer for 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Destroyer.

“[Insurgents] don’t want them because they either think it’s a move for us to increase our communications capability, or they purely see all forms of development as a threat to them,” Woods said. “In some cases, it’s safer for cell phone companies if we’re not involved.”

Together, the road paving and cell towers stand to have a sizable impact on the Afghans who live within their reach, said the Task Force Destroyer commander, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert B. Brown of Temple, Texas.

“I’m very optimistic about this entire area … we’re seeing a lot of progress,” Brown said. “[The Afghans] have to have those lines of communication … They have to be able to travel.”

Stoffer noted other ways the villages benefit from the road projects – not just from improved travel, but also the hiring of local residents to provide unskilled labor and other work.

“Each village has a stake in the road,” he said, noting the construction firm hires Afghan guards to provide security for the work crews. “It’s Afghans securing Afghans on the road.”

The section of the road from Nishagam to Naray is scheduled to be complete in February 2011. The section from Naray to Kamdesh is expected to be complete by March 2012.

Even as the construction continues, residents are reporting that they are already seeing the benefits of the road improvements, Stoffer said.

“We get constant feedback on how travel times to Jalalabad have already increased,” he said.

DVIDS
By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte
300th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Local Afghan children in downtown Asadabad watch a Provincial Reconstruction Team-Kunar patrol conduct a final quality assurance and quality check of a new 4-kilometer road through the provincial capital prior to a dedication ceremony, Dec. 13, 2009. (Photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brian Boisvert, Kunar Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs)

Getting through downtown Asadabad, Afghanistan, just became easier thanks to four kilometers of new roads that were completed, Dec. 13.

Kunar Provincial Reconstruction Team engineers completed their final quality assurance check prior to a dedication ceremony with Fazlullah Wahidi, Kunar provincial governor, and village elders on a clear, warm day.
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ISAF reports 1 and 2

In Helmand province a joint security force detained a suspected militant commander and several suspected militants linked to the narcotics industry in Nahri Sarraj district, during an Oct. 11 operation.

Haji Khan Mohammed is considered a senior power broker in the district, and it is believed that his drug operations provided financial support to enemy fighters throughout southern Afghanistan.

During the operation joint security forces received machine gun fire from militants shooting from multiple compounds. The forces moved the fighting away from the compounds and detained the militants.

The joint force also found a weapons cache consisting of 40 rocket propelled grenades, two ammunition vests, several thousand machine gun rounds, several five-gallon jugs used in constructing homemade explosives for roadside bombs, three AK-47s and 20 mortar rounds. The cache was destroyed on site by controlled detonation. No joint force members were injured during the operation.

A joint security force killed several militants Oct. 11, during an operation in Qalat district, Zabul province in an effort to disrupt a Taliban element believed responsible for several attacks in the region.

During the operation the joint force received hostile fire and returned fire, killing several militants.

Also during the search the joint force found an RPG, an AK-47 rifle with ammunition rounds, a pistol, a grenade, an ammunition belt and communications gear. All items were destroyed in place.

In an operation conducted in Kandahar province today, a joint security force detained one suspected militant in a compound known to be used by a Taliban facilitator and his element responsible for supplying improvised explosive devices, weapons and ammunition to other militant groups in the region.

The search in a compound northwest of Kandahar City was conducted without incident. No Afghan civilians were harmed during these operations.

Today (October 12 2009) a joint security force killed more than a dozen militants and detained a suspected militant after searching a mountainside compound in Kunar province known to be used by an al-Qaida commander and his element believed responsible for the facilitation of foreign fighters and numerous attacks in Pech Valley.

During the search of the compound located near Tantil village, northeast of Jalalabad, the force received hostile enemy fire on two occasions and returned fire, killing the enemy militants. The joint force also found a number of rocket propelled grenades, machine guns, multiple AK-47 rifles and other grenades. All items were destroyed in place.

In another operation in Ziruk district, Paktika province a joint security force detained several suspected militants today after searching a compound known to be used by a Haqqani facilitator and his element believed to be responsible for financing and supplying weapons to other militants in the region.

The joint force also found several grenades and a cache of small arms ammunition. All items were destroyed on site.

In a third operation that marked one of the largest drug and weapons discoveries this year, a joint force found about 100 kilograms of heroin, 1,800 kilograms of opium, nearly 50 metric tons of opium seeds along with a morphine processing lab during a search in Kajaki district, Helmand province, Oct. 6.

The joint force killed multiple enemy fighters and detained several suspected militants.

The joint force, assisted by the Afghanistan Narcotics Interdiction Unit, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, coordinated and conducted the search to disrupt Anti-Afghan forces and to set conditions for effective future security operations in central Helmand province.

The force also found a weapons cache that included: 35 RPGs, five hand grenades, one 82mm recoilless rifle, 600 links of 7.62mm ammunition, four sniper rifles, one RPG launcher, 15 blocks of C-4 explosives, two blocks of Semtex plastic explosives, 50 detonation cords, two landmines, one passive infrared initiator, 350 rounds of various ammunition and 35 tons of ammonium nitrate—a chemical used to make roadside bombs.

All drugs were destroyed on site, and weapons were either positioned for safe disposal or destroyed on location.

No Afghan civilians were harmed during these operations.

Provincial Reconstruction Team-Kunar engineers take an aerial reconnaissance photo of the Khas Kunar Truck Bridge construction project.

New roads and bridges in Afghanistan’s Kunar province are going a long way to help both residents and troops in the northeast border area, U.S. military and civilian engineers say.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the international forces’ provincial reconstruction team for Kunar province held a joint flyover Sept. 20 of current road and bridge projects in the province and made an assessment.

“Overall, we all were very happy with the progress on the various ongoing road and bridge projects, and we’re hoping they’re finished before winter starts,” said Navy Lt. Derek Elling, team engineer officer and Minnesota native. “These roads and bridges are connecting the people here to their local, provincial and national government.”

The roads and bridges are improving development by promoting commerce and transportation, said Daniel Dunleavy, USACE liaison to the Kunar team and a Winchester, Va., native.

“If you give people mobility, you bring in prosperity,” Dunleavy said, citing a recently completed bridge in the Shigal Valley as an example. “They’re now building a bazaar on the other side of the bridge where before there was nothing. Where ever we put a road, commerce is right behind.”

Provincial Reconstruction Team-Kunar engineers take an aerial reconnaissance photo of a road construction project between Asmar and Nishigam.

Just two and half years ago, 30 to 40 shops and one car dealership were in downtown Asadabad, Dunleavy said. Then, the U.S. Agency for International Development completed the road connecting Jalalabad to Asmar, and now there are more than 200 shops and four car dealerships.

Road and bridge projects do more than help people travel and improve the economy, Dunleavy said. They also improve security, making it harder for insurgents to plant bombs.

“Getting asphalt roads will help eliminate the [improvised explosive device] threat,” he said. “It’s a hell of a lot harder digging up an asphalt road than it is a dirt road.

“Getting roads to the point where they are putting down their base for asphalt is huge. It makes it safer and increases the maneuverability of security forces in and around the province because they can get places a lot quicker.”

The flyover gave the engineers a chance to see many projects including a road from Sarkani to Nawa Pass, the road from Asmar to Nishigam, as well as the Pashad, Khas Kunar and Saw bridges.

Provincial Reconstruction Team-Kunar engineers take an aerial reconnaissance photo of the Saw Bridge construction project. Provincial Reconstruction Team-Kunar engineers conducted a joint helicopter flyover Sept. 20 with people from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's Afghan Engineering District (North) to do assessments of current road and bridge projects in Kunar province.

“We got to see about a dozen projects in six hours, where [from the ground] we don’t get to see that much,” Dunleavy said. “It also gave us a chance to get aerial photos that we can use to go back and show [headquarters] when we talk about these projects.”

Regardless of where they are doing projects, the local people end up happy with the team’s efforts, Elling said.

“We’re received very well because they know where we are building projects, there are jobs and opportunities coming into their area,” he said. “Some are reluctant, but once they see the benefits they are very appreciative.”

DVIDS
Story by Capt. Tony Wickman

Afghan commandos, advised by coalition forces, killed 19 militants during overnight operations in Helgal Valley in the Shakail Shatel district of Afghanistan’s Kunar province, May 1-2.

The Afghan-led force was conducting a combat reconnaissance patrol about 150 miles east of Kabul in an area known to harbor militants when they were attacked by several armed enemy fighters with small-arms fire from a wooded area.

The combined force positively identified the enemy’s position and, after ensuring there were no noncombatants in the area, returned fire on the militants and called for close-air support, killing seven fighters.

The remaining enemy fighters attempted to reposition themselves on a ridge line, but the commandos maintained positive identification of their location. The force engaged the militants again with close-air support, killing 12 of them.

“This engagement was another blow to militant operations in eastern Afghanistan,” a coalition spokesman said. “Due to the expertise of these elite forces the insurgents are quickly losing their ability to operate in the region.”

No Afghan or coalition casualties were reported.

In another operation in Kunar province’s Marawara district, Afghan forces and a small supporting element of coalition forces captured a suspected Taliban commander in an operation in May 2. The suspect is believed to be responsible for helping bring improvised explosive devices into the area.

Forces did not fire any shots during the operation, protecting eight adults and six children.

DoD