Volatile district to see more development work along with soldiering

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ZHARI DISTRICT, Afghanistan - Canada is boosting its development and diplomacy efforts in what is perhaps Kandahar province's most volatile district.

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The Canadian Press

Members from the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry B Company from Shilo, Manitoba take stock of ammunition, including large rounds for the 25mm cannon for the LAV-3 armoured vehicles, at a forward operating camp in the Panjwayi District of Afghanistan Wednesday.

A new Joint District Co-ordination Centre in Zhari district will soon be staffed by a member of the Canadian-led Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

"We have people coming out here on a periodic basis but starting late August, early September, we'll have a political and development officer out here," said Elissa Goldberg, Canada's top civilian official in the area.

Goldberg was at yesterday's official opening of the centre, which has been operating informally for about six months.

There are currently two Canadian civilian police officers mentoring Zhari's Afghan police chief at the centre, she said.

The centre also serves as a 911 call centre, not altogether unlike the emergency dispatch system familiar to Canadians. It gets as many as 15 calls a week from local citizens seeking to warn troops about suspected improvised explosive devices.

The centre has been primarily staffed by members of the Canadian army's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team which works with Afghan soldiers.

In fact, because of the lack of security in Zhari, much of the development work that has been going on there has been delivered by Canadian Forces Civilian-Military Co-operation teams, or CIMIC.

Few, if any, non-governmental organizations have been willing to work in the area.

A battle between Canadian troops and insurgents early Friday could be heard at the Joint District Co-ordination Centre. Six Canadians who suffered minor wounds were evacuated by helicopter to hospital at Kandahar Airfield, where they were treated and released.

Canadian commander Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson said while soldiers still have their work cut out for them battling insurgents in Zhari, it's important that development work take place simultaneously.

"We're going subdistrict by subdistrict clearing and holding, but as you go you can commence the process of holding the ground and then building on it," he said.

"Eventually, as you take a little nibble at a time, you've got to move on to the other pieces of that which is development and governance, which you do in parallel. It's not a sequential process, its something that proceeds in parallel."

Training the Afghan army and Afghan police, boosting development and strengthening local governance are all key to Canada's exit strategy for 2011.

As such, Canada has increased the size of its mentoring teams and is expected to double the number of civil servants it has working in the country.

Aimed at facilitating interaction between local citizens, the district's local leadership, Afghan security forces and coalition troops, the Joint District Co-ordination Centre is a place where residents can bring both complaints and concerns. During yesterday's opening ceremony, for example, elder Haji Rahmatullah urged district leader Niaz Mohammad Sarahadi to look into the arrest of innocent citizens.