ISAF via DVIDS

An Afghan-international security force detained several individuals suspected of insurgent activity in Logar province last night.

The individuals were detained as the combined force searched a compound in Padkhvab-e Shaneh, Pul-e ‘Alam district, after intelligence information revealed militant activity.

Another Afghan-international force used aircraft and ground forces to stop two vehicles and detained multiple individuals suspected of insurgent activity in Zabul province yesterday.

The security force was pursuing a Taliban commander in the village of Zakuri, Shah Joy district, after intelligence information revealed insurgent activity.

The vehicles were stopped without incident, and several women and children in the vehicles were protected.

Individuals suspected of insurgent activity were detained by a separate Afghan-international force in Zabul province yesterday.

The combined force detained two suspected insurgents while searching a compound in the village of Jonubi Garay, Shah Joy district, after intelligence information found insurgent activity.

No shots were fired and no one was harmed during the above operations.

An Afghan-international security force found a large amount of explosives and detained an individual suspected of insurgent activity in Kandahar province last night.

The security force searched a series of compounds near the village of Zarif Kheyl, Zharay district, after intelligence information verified militant activity.

A Russian-made anti-aircraft weapon, several artillery rounds used for making improvised explosive devices, completed IED’s and automatic rifles were found.

A number of insurgents were killed and large weapons caches were found by a separate Afghan-international security force during a two-day clearing operation that ended in Khost province last night.

The operation took place southwest of Kowte Kheyl, Shamul district, after intelligence reports confirmed insurgent activity in an area known for extensive Haqqani network involvement and facilitation.

The security force came under fire several times over the course of the operation and returned fire, killing a number of insurgents.

Several of the insurgent strongholds were mined with IED’s and precision air strikes were used to eliminate weapon storage areas. The security force also recovered multiple rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, hand grenades, automatic rifles and IED components.

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Afghan National Police seized 76 kilograms of heroin Thursday at a checkpoint on Highway 1 in Zabul province.

The heroin was discovered when the narcotics section of the Zabul ANP stopped an overloaded bus at a checkpoint. The inspection uncovered four burlap sacks containing bundles of books. Further inspection revealed the books had been hollowed out and were being used to disguise the heroin. Copies of the Quran were placed on top of the bundles in what is believed to be an effort to deter inspection.

“This is a great example of police work and counter narcotics operations. The Narcotics section is highly experienced in disrupting drug trafficking as well as drug seizure. This week the ANP seized over 740Kgs of Heroin,” stated Capt. Michael Tumlin, ISAF partner for the Zabul Provincial Chief of Police.

“These drugs are paying for the Taliban to emplace IEDs in the area that have killed or wounded over 41 civilians over the last 60 days.” said Lt. Col. David Oclander, commander of 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, which is partnered with Afghan National Security Forces throughout Zabul province.

“This is becoming a real problem for the Taliban to answer to. There just isn’t any justification to these kinds of actions that are causing so many Afghan casualties,” said Oclander.

“The actions of these criminals violates the most holy principles of Islam,” said Col. Ghulam Jalani Khan, acting Zabul ANP chief of police. “To defile the Holy Quran by hiding illegal drugs in them shows that the selling and use of drugs is destroying our society and Islam. These criminals are not true Muslims.”

Approximately 1,100 men report for work outside of Qalat City, Zabul each day as part of a cash-for-work project sponsored by USAID and the PRT to construct a landfill outside the capital city of this remote province. The project is targeted toward increasing public health in the city as well as provides stabilizing effects by employing men during the high fighting season. The project is estimated to last through August 2010.

Multiple focused, joint projects between the Zabul Provincial Reconstruction Team, U.S. Agency for International Development’s Food Insecurity Response for Urban Populations program, Zabul provincial and district officials and community stakeholders have begun in order to bring improved quality of life and commerce to two key population centers in this remote province.

Two municipal landfills are being developed, one each in Qalat City and Shajoy, employing approximately 1,100 workers each for the next three months. Another 400 workers are employed making improvements along the main bazaar road in Shajoy, the largest in the province, with approximately 2,000 shops.

“These projects not only benefit the public through health improvements removing waste from the streets of the cities, they are also intended to bring positive stability effects,” said 1st Lt. Rebecca Heyse, spokesperson for the Zabul PRT. “By focusing the period of employment during the high fighting season as well as utilizing a cash-for-work approach, rather than conventional contracting, the economic benefit to local residents will be maximized.”

The total budget of the project is more than $1 million, with 95% of the total project cost going straight in the pocket of the laborers in the form of paychecks.

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The Afghan national army and Afghan national police, assisted by Coalition forces, conducted a cordon and search in the Arghandab District, Oct. 30, to search for a weapons cache and known insurgent leadership. The operation led to the detainment of four insurgents and several others being killed.

The intent of the operation was to decrease roadside bomb usage along the major highway going into Qalat City in Deh Chopan. The insurgents removed from the district were associated with placing several roadside bombs that were responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians.

The ANA and Arghandab ANP will continue to patrol this area and conduct operations to remove insurgents and halt the emplacement of roadside bombs.

No civilians were injured during this operation.

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A group of Afghan children follow Air Force Maj. J. D. Loftis, a public information officer with Task Force Zabul's Provincial Reconstruction Team, and are surprised to find he can speak fluent Pashto, one of Afghanistan's official languages. His ability to speak to the locals in their own language instantly breaks down cultural barriers and builds trust. Photo by Staff Sgt. David Flaherty

Maj. Loftis has a Pashto name — Esan. People are always asking him what it means.

Deployed to Forward Operating Base Smart – a small military compound located in the heart of the Southern Afghan city of Qalat – the Air Force public information officer leaves quite an impression with the Afghan community he lives and works in, even if that community happens to be in the middle of a war zone.

While on foot patrol, Maj. Loftis is bombarded by swarms of Afghan children. Laughing and smiling, they follow him for blocks. He’s made friends with every Afghan on base. Whether they’re a guard or a local contractor, they’re all on a first name basis with him.

To say the least, Maj. Loftis is quite popular with the locals.

So how has the Air Force public information officer three months into his deployment connected so well, so quickly with the average Afghan? To find out, just ask any of the locals he’s befriended. But don’t expect to understand them – the majority does not speak English.

Maj. Loftis has gained so much public praise because he’s fluent in Pashto – Southern Afghanistan’s most common language.

In a war where gaining public support is vital to combating the insurgency, Maj. Loftis’ ability to engage with the Afghans in their own language and earn their trust is a valuable weapon in the counterinsurgency fight.

“When the Afghan people see that an American is speaking Pashto, they’re more inclined to open up to him, and that’s the reason why he’s so successful,” said Mohammad Ashraf Nasari, the governor of Zabul province, Afghanistan. “He can go among the local population and get their impression of U.S. forces. He can do this better than any other soldier because he speaks their language and knows their culture.”

Assigned to a Provincial Reconstruction Team whose mission is to bring development, governance and security to Afghanistan, Maj. Loftis has the unique opportunity to communicate daily with his Afghan neighbours.

While PRT units rarely venture outside the compound walls without a translator, Loftis’ ability to speak directly to Afghans allows him to quickly form a rapport with the locals that immediately breaks down cultural barriers.

He learned this first-hand while on foot patrol through the city streets of Qalat. As motorists were stopped for the foot patrol to pass, drivers started to become incensed at the delay. When Maj. Loftis noticed their frustration, he approached the drivers and said in perfect Pashto, “Please excuse the delay. We have to do this for security and we appreciate your patience.”

“The look on their face immediately changed,” said Maj. Loftis. “They went from a stone cold stare to a huge smile, so it really smoothes things over when you do something as simple as speak to them.”

A native of Murray, Ky., Maj. Loftis is fairly new to the Afghan language. He learned Pashto in 2007 after being selected to become a Regional Affairs Strategist, a unique, secondary career field that’s development program includes formal cultural education and training. In the RAS program, Maj. Loftis attended one year of South Asian Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School and one year of Pashto language studies at the Defense Language Institute, both in Monterey, Calif.

Within a year he was speaking like an Afghan.

“I was happy when I learned he could speak Pashto because I knew I could come to him with a problem,” said Nazar Mohommad, a base gardener, through a translator. “I know him now, and I look to him as a friend.”

Even though he admits he sometimes has trouble understanding some Afghans because of their fast paced vernacular, that hasn’t swayed him in his ongoing attempt to make new friends.

“During Eid ul-Fitr [the Islam holiday], I went around to all the guard towers to speak with some of the Afghan guards. If you think about it, they were sitting all by themselves for hours on this major, Islam holiday,” said Maj. Loftis. “I figured that if I were someplace by myself on Christmas, I would want somebody to come around and share the moment with me.”

In the ongoing pursuit of building strong relationships, Maj. Loftis may be Romanian Battle Group in Zabul’s secret weapon. His ability to speak to the locals in their own language instantly breaks down cultural barriers and builds trust.

His major focus is to communicate that the coalition forces are here for Afghanistan’s long-term stability. And he communicates that idea better than any translator.

And Maj. Lostis’ Arabic name? It means “The Quality of Being Generous.”

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Story by Staff Sgt. David Flaherty