Unsicherheit in Afghanistan: Helmand und anderswo

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Ungeachtet der low ops zur Weihnachtspause hier (die in den Konfliktregionen dieser Welt ja ohnehin keine Rolle spielt…) ein notwendiger Blick auf Afghanistan: In der Provinz Helmand gibt es heftige Kämpfe um die Stadt Sangin – was hierzulande weniger wahrgenommen wird als in Großbritannien, denn dieser Ort hat für den britischen Afghanistan-Einsatz der vergangenen Jahre eine ähnliche Symbolik wie die nordafghanische Stadt Kundus für die Deutschen.

Die Lage entwickelt sich ständig, ein Überblick am (heutigen) Dienstagnachmittag bei der BBC:

British military personnel have been deployed to Afghanistan’s Helmand province as reports suggest the Taliban is close to overrunning Sangin town. (…)
Helmand’s governor, Mirza Khan Rahimi, insisted the authorities were still in control of Sangin, in Helmand province, but his own deputy said the town had been overrun by Taliban militants.
The police headquarters reportedly remains under siege after a Taliban attack.

Von einem neuen Kampfeinsatz der Briten kann aber nicht die Rede sein – sie nehmen offensichtlich die gleichen Beratungsaufgaben war wie die Bundeswehr (zusammen mit anderen Nationen) im Oktober in Kundus. Die Aussage des britischen Verteidigungsministeriums dazu:

As part of the UK’s ongoing contribution to NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, a small number of UK personnel have deployed to Camp Shorabak in Helmand Province in an advisory role. These personnel are part of a larger NATO team, which is providing advice to the Afghan National Army. They are not deployed in a combat role and will not deploy outside the camp. In total the UK has around 450 troops in Afghanistan mentoring and supporting the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces and the Afghan Security Ministries.

Eine Übersicht (mit Stand vom Montag) mit mehr Einzelheiten gibt es beim Long War Journal.

Unabhängig von der Art der Beteiligung der verbliebenen internationalen Truppen wirft die Entwicklung in Helmand aber ein Schlaglicht auf die Sicherheitslage in Afghanistan. Und die ist, schlicht gesagt, eher schlechter als zuvor. Das zeigen auch andere, nicht direkt auf Helmand bezogene Ereignisse:

• Die Europäische Union hat zwölf Millionen Euro für zusätzliche Nothilfe bewilligt:

The intensifying conflict in Afghanistan is taking a toll on civilians in both urban and rural areas and the country is again facing a critical humanitarian crisis.
The European Commission is today providing additional €12 million to meet growing humanitarian needs in Afghanistan, bringing total Commission humanitarian aid to €40 million to the country in 2015. The support comes amid a drastic intensification of the conflict, which increasingly affects urban centres with high population density.
„This new EU humanitarian support will help people directly affected by the escalation in violence. Afghanistan is back to a critical humanitarian crisis with the situation worsening over the past few weeks. The civilian population is paying a heavy toll in casualties and displacement.“ said Christos Stylianides, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management. (…)
The security situation in the country makes the delivery of aid and access to beneficiaries particularly difficult and dangerous.

• Die Vereinten Nationen warnen, zusätzlich zur Bedrohung durch die Taliban, vor einem weiteren Erstarken von ISIS in Afghanistan, wie AP berichtet:

The U.N. Security Council extended sanctions against the Taliban for 18 months in a resolution Monday that warned of the increasing presence of affiliates of the Islamic State extremist group in Afghanistan.
Nicholas Haysom, the U.N. envoy for Afghanistan, told reporters after briefing the council that the security situation in Afghanistan is „extremely challenging“ with the most significant threat coming from the Taliban insurgency.
But he noted that while the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, has only a limited presence at the moment, primarily in Nangahar province in the east, it should not be underestimated.

• Die unsichere Lage betrifft das ganze Land, einschließlich der Hauptstadt Kabul:

The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Tuesday said that five people have been arrested in connection with Monday night’s rocket attack in Kabul.
The ministry said one rocket landed in a U.S base, Camp Eggers, close to the US Embassy – another near Amani High School and the third one inside the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum compound. However no casualties were reported. (…)
On Sunday evening Lisa Akbari an Afghan-American was gunned down while leaving a gym in Kart-e-Char in Kabul.
Kabul Police said the victim was shot by a mullah from a mosque within the complex that houses the gym.

Das alles wird uns, fürchte ich, auch in den nächsten Tagen weiter beschäftigen.

Nachtrag: Zu Helmand noch ein Fundstück – ein britischer Soldat erläutert die Probleme während seines Einsatzes dort, die sich seitdem kaum verändert haben dürften (es ist zwar ein dänisches Video, aber untertitelt und deshalb im englischen O-Ton):


(Direktlink: https://youtu.be/0E4AmEI8UfQ)

Nachtrag 2: Nach dem Rückzug der internationalen Truppen aus der Fläche gibt es eine Aufklärungslücke, berichtet das Wall Street Journal:

Fourteen years after the U.S. and its allies routed most al Qaeda militants from Afghanistan, the country is again becoming a haven for extremist groups, the result, in part, of inadequate surveillance of its far-flung territory, Afghan and Western officials say. (…) As of September, all but about 20 of the installations that anchored the extensive intelligence-gathering network have been closed, bulldozed or handed off to the Afghan government. With large stretches of Afghanistan now regularly unmonitored, Afghan and Western officials fear that more extremists from Islamic State, al Qaeda and other militant groups could find sanctuary inside the country’s borders.

Nachtrag 3: Update vom 23. Dezember, New York Times:

Afghan forces on Wednesday battled Taliban fighters who overran the district of Sangin in the southern province of Helmand this week after reinforcements and NATO military advisers were rushed in to try to stop another district falling into insurgent hands.
Acting Defence Minister Masoom Stanekzai said fighting was going on in Sangin where government forces had been surrounded by insurgents who controlled most of the district including roads needed for reinforcements and supplies. (…)
Although much attention has been focused on Sangin, fierce fighting has been underway across much of Helmand, a traditional stronghold of the Taliban and a major center for opium that U.S. and British troops fought for years to control.