One helmet between 20 men, but Afghan unit not afraid of Taleban

IN 2014 when the last Nato forces are gone, Afghanistan’s defence will fall to troops such as the 4th Battalion of 203 Thunder Corps.

They say they are ready, yet 20 men in the unit’s outpost in Logar Province have one helmet between them.

No one denies the Afghan National Army has an equipment problem. President Hamid Karzai says he is disturbed by problems such as the helmet shortage. The US is providing the army with new, lighter helmets, but not all the soldiers have them. Still, this weekend in their Chinari Outpost base in Logar Province, Afghan troops sounded motivated and patriotic. They tend to dismiss the Taleban rank and file as poor youngsters who join up for the money, but in the next breath say much the same of themselves: Partially educated at most, or not at all, they enlisted because their families need the money.

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The Taleban put religion in the forefront of its endeavours; the government soldiers seem to lay more stress on love of their country.

Most say they joined up because they love their country, and because the $250 (£161) monthly salaries offer a way out of poverty. They say they aren’t afraid of the Taleban, and expect the fighting to stop once foreign troops leave. They represent Afghanistan’s many and sometimes quarrelling ethnic groups – Tajik, Uzbek, Pashtun and Hazara – and say ethnicity doesn’t define them.

Bushy-bearded Noor Alam is 25 and in his words a bit of a dreamer and a poet. He and two brothers joined because his family is poor and needs the money.

He recalled scary encounters with the Taleban in his four years in the army, but none as frightening as the one with US Special Forces, who he says mistook his base for a Taleban hide-out. “Their weapons were so strong. I have had bad experiences with the Taleban but this was the most frightening for me,” he said.

He says he longs for, “peace with all Afghans, living together. We shouldn’t fight each other.”

Noor Ali thinks he’s 21, lost his parents when he was young, never went to school, but worked as a labourer. He joined the army ten months ago and learned basic reading and writing. He dyed his hair flaming red, explaining shyly, “I did this to look good. In my village it is popular.”

Mohammed Khan is 21 but his face is weathered and lined. He said his elderly father can no longer work. “We need money and at the same time we serve our country,” he said.

He hasn’t yet been under fire but says: “I am not afraid of the Taleban. I am only afraid of God.”

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He believes the Afghan National Army can defend the country after 2014 and thinks Afghanistan will be better off once the foreign forces are gone.

At 23 Sergeant Abdul Bashir is a veteran. One of 15 children, he joined up four years ago “to serve my country.” He accuses Iran and Pakistan of interfering in his troubled homeland but believes Afghanistan will have a better chance at peace after international forces leave. He longs for “a country that is peaceful and can develop and where a soldier all alone can go anywhere in the country without feeling any danger.”

Among the higher ranks, officers are not shy about expressing their worries for Afghanistan’s fate once the foreign forces leave. But here at Chinari, the consensus seems to be: We’ll manage fine.

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