By Jerome Starkey in Lashkar Gah
DESPITE the grim toll of British soldiers’ bodies coming home in coffins, many Afghans believe British troops have been helping the Taleban.
“Of course we think they are supporting the Taleban,” said shopkeeper Saad Alikhi in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. “When the international troops first came here, they cleaned up all the Taleban, all over Afghanistan, within a month. Now I find there’s a mine exploding in front of my shop.”
Security has plummeted across Helmand since UK troops arrived three years ago, and ordinary people have watched the Taleban grow stronger.
Many are struggling to understand why Britain, with all the might of Nato and the United States behind it, has failed to beat the ragtag Taleban militia.
“Since the British troops came here, you cannot even go out of the buildings because there are mines everywhere,” said Colonel Abdul Ghafour, a former head of Helmand’s police. “Everywhere there are Taleban.”
