A Battlefield Tourist

Poland Set to Take Control of Ghazni

Oct 20 at 5:05pm by David Tate

After more than a year of planning and nearly six months of moving, Polish troops are preparing to take security control of Ghazni Province in Afghanistan’s volatile eastern part of the country.

Originally hoping to take control of Paktika Province, the Poles recently completed a move into four US-built bases across Ghazni and expect to be fully in charge by early November.  Poland is trading locations with US troops who have been in Ghazni full time since early 2004. 

The Americans are moving their Ghazni components into neighboring Paktika Province, complimenting American forces already in place along the Pakistani border area with Waziristan.

Looking For More

Poland, preparing its fourth rotation of troops to Afghanistan, has been vying to take over security of a province in an effort to consolidate its forces for maximum efficiency.  Up until this point, Poland had some concentrated troops in Paktika Province (headquartered in Gardez) with hundreds of other troops scattered throughout the country from Bagram to Kandahar.

Unfinished Business

As the Americans wrap up their move out of Ghazni, they are also ratcheting up operations in the province, seemingly working hard to leave the province’s security situation in as favorable a condition as possible.  Within the past two weeks alone multiple operations, particularly in the restive Andar district, have been persistent:

   Oct. 10 – Four militants are killed and two captured after coalition forces come under fire during an operation.  A Taliban commander and an al Qaeda commander are among the dead.

   Oct. 12 – An operation in Andar district targeting a local Taliban commander leads to a firefight that kills five Taliban fighters, including the wanted leader.

   Oct. 13 – Coalition forces targeting a Taliban sub commander in Rashidan district come under fire.  In the ensuing fight five militants, including the commander, are killed.

   Oct. 14 – Coalition forces targeting an IED cell in Andar district capture three militants.

   Oct. 16 – Eight fighters are captured during multiple operations in Andar and Waghez districts.  One of the fighters is wounded during a brief firefight.

Currently more than 1,600 Polish troops are in Afghanistan with more likely on their way as Poland wraps up its mission in Iraq to focus on central asia.  That number includes 400 reinforcements that have recently completed deploying in the lead up to the transfer of control. 

Poland’s primary mission will be controlling more than 180 miles of the Kabul-Kandahar Highway (the main artery serving a majority of Afghanistan’s population) and training Afghan security forces also deployed around the province.

Fighting in Ghazni has increased 99% since 2007 when 113 incidents were reported.  By October 2008, the number of attacks was already 221 on the year.  Ghazni is the fifth most active province, in terms of fighting, in Afghanistan.