Nawa-I-Barakzayi District

Nawa-I-Barakzayi is located on a flood plain that had been farmed for centuries, with farmers taking water from the river via locally built canals. In the 1950s and 1960s the United States sponsored the Helmand Valley Authority, a desert reclamation project to help turn parts of the Helmand River Valley into fertile farmland. In Nawa, the Shamalan canal, a branch of the Boghra canal, was built by the Helmand Valley Authority. It replaced the old system, increased the water supply, improved water distribution and brought new lands under irrigation. Additional irrigation in the 1970s brought more water into the southern reaches of Nawa, more land under cultivation, and allowed new land settlement.[4]

In 1978 the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan seized control of the government and began a program of rapid modernization. Among the many institutions they targeted were the local landlords, known as the khans. In Helmand Province groups of local warlords and armed resistance fighters quickly rose in opposition to the government and filled the power vacuum left by the khans. Most resistance in Helmand was carried out on tribal lines; without a significant tribal base, Nawa-i-Barakzayi became a major government stronghold. During the Soviet occupation, the Afghan Communists recruited many of their Khalq militia from Nawa-i-Barakzayi.[5] The Russians also had a major operations base near Lashkar Gah with at least 2500 soldiers, including the 22nd Spetznaz Brigade.[6] The main Russian strategy in central Helmand was to cut a deal with the main mujahideen commander, Mullah Mohammad Nasim Akhundzada which divided the province into the Soviet areas (Lashkar Gah and Gereshk) and the mujahideen areas (everywhere else).[7] After repeatedly taking indirect fire from mujahideen units operating in the Nawa area, the Soviets launched a clearing operation there in 1987 and set up a Sarandoy (Armed Police) Battalion.[6] According to the local residents, over 20% of their homes were destroyed during the Soviet occupation.[8]

The Soviet occupation also saw the rise of poppy growing in Nawa District. During the Eighties the Akhundzadas gradually consolidated power over most of Helmand, eliminating other Mujahideen factions.[5] Two prominent pro-government commanders in the Nawa area during this time were Khano and Allah Noor. Allah Noor was actually a native of Nawa-i-Barakzayi (Khano was from Farah Province); both individuals recruited their militias from unemployed youths in the province. After the Soviet withdrawal, they administered the area for the Afghan government until they were overrun by the Akhundzadas in 1993.[5] The Akhundzada victory was short-lived, however, as the Taliban conquered Nawa-i-Barakzayi along with rest of Helmand in late 1994 and early 1995.[9]

Afghan National Army Brig. Gen. Sheer Mohammad Zazi speaks to Afghan National Army soldiers and local Nawa District officials at Patrol Base Jaker.

In July 2006 the Taliban chased out the police and seized control of the town of Nawa-I-Barakzayi. They held it for two weeks before being driven out by NATO and Afghan soldiers.[10] In 2007, Nawa was described as "relatively peaceful".[11] In 2008 the Taliban launched their spring offensive, Operation Ebrat, aimed at isolating Lashkar Gah, using Nawa-i-Barakzayi as a staging area for men and equipment coming north from Garmsir. In October 2008 the British launched a series of unsuccessful sweeps aimed at driving the Taliban out of Nawa.[12] That same year there was one Afghan NGO working on an irrigation intake off the Helmand River with some 700 men and vehicles at work.[4]

In 2009 the Taliban began moving even more men into Nawa, possibly for additional attacks against Lashkar Gah. On May 13, they launched an attack against the Afghan National Police in the district, that overwhelmed several posts. By late spring they had established a solid foothold in the district.[12] On July 2, 2009, Marines from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines (1/5) occupied the district as part of Operation Strike of the Sword. They set up their headquarters in Forward Operating Base Geronimo. On August 26, Lance Corporal Donald Hogan, a Marine with 1/5, threw himself in front of an improvised explosive device (IED), saving the Marines in his squad. He was later posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions.[13] In December, 1/5 was replaced by 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines.[14][15] In the late summer and early fall the Marines detained Haji Adam, one of Nawa's main drug lords, and turned his house into Combat Outpost (COP) Sullivan.[16] In November two local officials were assassinated.[17] On December 17, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Patrol Base Jaker and touted the security gains by touring the Nawa district center without wearing body armor.[18] Several weeks later Afghan President Hamid Karzai and ISAF commander General Stanley McChrystal also visited Nawa on January 2, 2010.[2] On January 9 British journalist Rupert Hamer and two Marines were killed by an IED in the district.[19]

Marines from Headquarters & Service Company, 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines, conducting a dawn patrol in Nawa District.

Marines from 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment talk with leaders at a meeting in the Nawa District during Operation Strike of the Sword.

By the spring of 2009 Helmand was perceived as being one of the key centers of the Taliban movement.[20] By early June 2009 over 10,000 Marines had poured into southern Afghanistan, the first wave of what President Obama promised would be a 21,000 strong surge.[21] The Marines planned a series of operations to assault Taliban strongholds and then consolidate the Afghan government's position in the region. The first was Operation Strike of the Sword, which would target Taliban positions in Nawa-i-Barakzayi and Garmsir. According to Marine Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, the operation was aimed to improve security ahead of presidential elections, allowing voter registration where before there was none.[22] The BBC said that while that was the official goal of the operation, the real goal was the change the momentum of the war, which had previously favored the Taliban, and create the perception that security in Afghanistan was improving.[20]

On July 2, hundreds of Marines from 1st Battalion, 5th Marines were lifted by helicopter into the district, encountering sporadic resistance. The conflict began around 1:00 am local time when Marines were dropped by CH-47s and UH-60s helicopters of the 82nd Airborne Division, into dirt fields around the district capital of Nawa-I-Barakzayi. The first shots of the operation were fired at daybreak (around 6:15 am) when a Marine unit received small-arms fire from a tree-line. Cobra attack helicopters were called in and made strafing runs at the tree line from where the fire was coming from. Marines also encountered a group of about 20 militants holed up in a mud-brick compound. The Marines refrained from calling in a fixed-wing airstrike and instead used the 20mm guns from their AH-1W SuperCobra helicopter gunships to avoid the risk of civilian casualties. The militants managed to escape.[23][24][25] Taliban forces withdrew to Marjah while observing the Marines.[26]

In mid-May 2010 1st Battalion 3rd Battalion was substituted by 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines.[27] Partnering with Afghan National Army soldiers from the 215th Corps, the battalion found itself in an area awash with money as the U.S. Agency for International Development was in the process of spending $30 million in an attempt to increase agricultural production (and create jobs for thousands of otherwise-potential Taliban recruits), but was also resulting in tensions between the local community council and tribal elders.[28][29] In-mid June, Lima Company took part in Operation New Dawn, establishing observation posts in southern Shorshork, an area in between Nawa and Marjeh.[30] In late July, the battalion suffered the loss of Corporal Joe Wrighstman, who drowned in the Helmand River while attempting to save the life of an Afghan National policeman.[31] Just days later they had to secure the crash site of Dealer 54, an HMLA-369 helicopter which had crashed near Lashkar Gah, killing the two pilots.[32][33][34] Around this time, India Company conducted Operation Thresher and later Operation Mako in areas of Nawa District under heavy Taliban influence, finding several cache sites and taking some detainees.[29][34] In September, while providing pre-election security for the Afghan parliamentary elections the battalion suffered another loss when 1st Lieutenant Scott Fleming was shot and killed.[35] Nevertheless, on election day Nawa District was the one location in Helmand Province with no reported Taliban attacks. Residents claimed that the Marines from 3rd Battalion had implemented good security measures and encouraged the people to cooperate with the government, preventing the Taliban from firing a single shot.[36] By the end of 3rd Battalion's deployment in the fall of 2010, Nawa was regarded by many as "a model of counterinsurgency operations and the most stable district" in southern Afghanistan.[37][38]