A new Pentagon report highlights a notable trend: Expanded military operations and counternarcotics raids in southern Afghanistan have helped to decrease the cultivation of drugs used to fund the insurgency there. The decrease was the most striking in areas where coalition forces have a strong presence, particularly in Helmand province, said the “Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan.” Nearly 20,000 Marines are deployed there as part of a 30,000-troop coalition force commanded by Maj. Gen. John Toolan, head of II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) and Regional Command-Southwest. A version of the report is released every six months,…
Browsing: Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan
The Marine Corps’ regional command in Afghanistan had the most violent activity in the whole country in the last six months, according to a new Pentagon report released to Congress. Regional Command Southwest was the site of about 8,000 “security incidents” from October 2010 to March 2011, said the biannual “Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan,” released today (It’s posted online here). The incidents include attacks with direct fire, indirect fire, improvised explosive devices, mines and surface-to-air weapons. The region includes Helmand and Nimroz provinces, where more than 20,000 Marines are deployed. That’s not necessarily a surprise,…
