Deadly crossroads Sangin,

Afghan Deadly crossroads,

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commanders have acknowledged Sangin, where more than 100 British troops were killed, as the most dangerous place in Afghanistan – and Britain's role there was ill-conceived from the start.

Like the town of Musa Qala and the Kajaki dam, to the north, which British troops left to US stewardship earlier this year, Sangin has long been prized territory for the Taliban. It is an important commercial crossroads, especially for the opium trade, and has no coherent tribal structure. This means it is difficult to get trustworthy national Afghan police forces to patrol alongside British soldiers.

British troops were deployed there in 2006 as part of a misguided policy of creating "inkspots", the idea being that they would establish themselves in a district and gradually expand outwards. It was a policy pushed by an Afghan government anxious to get British soldiers to fight the insurgency in key areas, and overconfident British officers eagerly pursued it.

British troops were too thinly spread over too many areas. Defence chiefs understood this, though how hard they pressed the point with ministers in the Labour government remains unclear. The issue was addressed seriously only when President Obama finally agreed last year to send thousands more US troops to southern Afghanistan. As a result, there are more than twice as many US troops as British in Helmand. The 9,500 remaining UK troops are now concentrating on a much smaller area of central Helmand.

"The handover of Sangin by UK forces represents sound military rationale," Liam Fox, the defence secretary, said. Responding to questions now raised - and not least by British troops - about the departure from Sangin, Fox added: "The level of sacrifice has been high, and we should never forget the many brave troops who have lost their lives in the pursuit of success in an international mission rooted firmly in our own national security in the UK."

The Ministry of Defence says a new Afghan governor and community leaders are making progress in Sangin, where it says more than 850 shops are trading in the bazaar - twice as many as in summer last year.

Improvements to route 611, from central Helmand through Sangin to Kajaki, has increased access to agricultural land and markets. Grain is being distributed to promote the production of legal alternatives to narcotics, and trained Afghan medics at a new health clinic are treating 300 patients a week.

British troops have no doubt achieved much in Sangin. But they have done so at a high cost and in a way that raises the questions of why more was not done much sooner - and whether the Taliban will yet return.

(source:guardian.co.uk)